Pokemon Story 2: The Great Adventure
by CertainDestiny
Summary: A ferry was now treading the vast ocean. It's destination; the Tenla Region. The boat was loaded with trainers ready to conquer a new region, one filled with chances. But, someone had a more fervent enthusiasm than anyone else and his name is Ash Ketchum. Follow him with companions both old and new as they fight and meet old and new things. Rated T for language.
1. Prologue: In Due Time

**Beginning Author Notes**

MAJOR Edit (12/19/10) - This edit is being placed in the first chapter to let all future readers know what is going on with the story as a whole. Initially, the story was to take place 5 years after the events of Pokemon Story. As of now, I am lowering this time-skip to one year (which is the standard amount of time it approximately takes after each region is tackled). Why? I felt that I should stick to the Pokemon canon and keep the cast as young as possible and stay linear to everything. Plus, all the stuff I have planned in the future suits a "one-year-older" cast more than a "five-year-older" cast. That means all implications of things relating to the former 5 years will be edited, taken out, and/or replaced with something regrading the new 1 year.

Thank you for taking the time to enter my story entitled "Pokemon Story 2: The Great Adventure". You have just began reading a story of mine that I am pouring much effort and excitement in to and it thoroughly relieves to know you would humble an author such as myself to take time reading it. PS2 (the abbreviation of this story) is a sequel to PS (abbreviation for Pokemon Story), a story which was written when my skills were below-average. PS2, unlike that one, covers a whole new region along with the twist and turns that come with it. I plan to assimilate some styles seen from all regions (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh; Unova pending) with the styles I have in my fan-made region, and I hope you enjoy it. Predictably, this is going to take some time to finish so bear with me.

Here is a tentative list for the ages of character that will definitely appear in the story:

Ash - 13

Misty - 13

Max - 10

Brock - 16

Gary – 13

Ursula -12

Drew - 12

May – 12

Nando - 22

Harley - 18

Dawn – 11

Kenny - 11

Zoey - 12

Paul - 13

Jimmy - 13

Marina - 13

Vincent - 13

Ritchie - 13

I'm not sure if these ages are precise or not, but this is how things are going to be in my story. Also, Aaron from Pokemon Story is going to come back. His age will be 16. Lastly, another OC named Ian that appeared in between the end of Pokemon Story 1 and the beginning of Pokemon Story 2 will appear. His age shall be 16 as well. And any other major, recurring characters to appear that I haven't mentioned will have their ages said as well.

Disclaimer: Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

Now that I've got just about everything covered, without further ado, please sit back, get comfy, and enjoy Pokemon Story 2: The Great Adventure:

**Prologue: In Due Time**

Like every journey in the Pokemon World, there is an exciting beginning and a regretful end. Sadly, there was an end to Ash and company's journey after that impressive performance a trainer and coordinator by the name of Aaron Shadow gave in Jubilife City and Oreburgh City. And this is how everything went.

During their adventures, May appeared in Sinnoh to participate in the Wallace Cup. She acquainted Dawn and talked to Ash and Brock about what happened when she was gone. Aaron, who was circumstantially in the city, met with the group again, not to partake in the Wallace Cup, but to stock up on supplies. May and Aaron reminisced about a contest in Johto, surprising Ash and Brock. May and Dawn faced each other in the finals with the latter claiming victory. This piqued Aaron's curiosity greatly.

Misty also appeared in the Sinnoh region partly to look at the ancient ruins in Celestic Town and partly to research the new Water Pokemon Sinnoh has. In a neighboring city, they held a water Pokemon competition. Misty (using a fully evolved Azumarill), Dawn (using Piplup), and Ash (using Buizel) participated in the tournament. Having more knowledge of Water Pokemon, Misty defeated them both only to face Aaron in the final round, who used his recently evolved Empoleon to ascertain its skills. Quickly learning her skills and countering them, Aaron's Empoleon easily trounced Misty's Azumarill to win the competition.

_"So you're a longtime associate of Ash, hm?" Aaron said as he gazed at the orange-haired Water-type enthusiast from his elevated podium at the eastern endpoint of the large circular pool. "That's me!" Misty shamelessly responded. "Then this should be interesting." Aaron stated anticipatively as he took out his Pokeball. "It will, don't you worry about that!" Misty countered with a confident smile as she took out her own Pokeball, "Azumarril, let's go!" She threw out the Pokeball and the Aqua Mouse Pokemon was released into the water. "Azumarril, huh? All right, time for my new Empoleon to make a debut!" Aaron threw out his Pokeball and the Emperor Pokemon was released onto a stationary stone platform. _

_"Oh wow, Aaron's Prinplup evolved into an Empoleon!" Ash exclaimed. "I'm not surprised," Brock admitted as Dawn's eyes shimmered in admiration, "He's a powerful trainer indeed, but I'd like to see how he fares against Misty." Dawn finally spoke, "I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls a couple more tricks out of his hat." Piplup chirped enthusiastically beside its trainer, obviously going for the same person Dawn was. _

_"Begin!"_

_"Misty, you have the honors." Aaron impassively proclaimed as Empoleon readied itself. "Thanks a bunch! Azumarril, Bubblebeam!" Misty commanded. The pure Water-type pokemon shot out of the water and discharged a rapid succession of azure bubbles at Empoleon. "Hmph. Ice Beam then Steel Wing." Aaron enjoined as the Emperor Pokemon shot a ray of icy energy at the Bubblebeam. All of the bubbles instantly solidified into ice balls and were sliced into oblivion by a preceding Steel Wing from Empoleon. Ice crystals dispersed and scattered across the field beautifully. "Oh Empoleon is so powerful..." Dawn said in awe. "But I'm afraid skills seen in Pokemon Contests won't grant him victory against Misty." Brock said._

_"Azumarril, Aqua Jet!" Misty commanded pointing at the Water/Steel-type Pokemon. The Aqua Mouse surrounded itself in a spiraling, bullet-shaped water veil and dashed expeditiously toward Empoleon's platform. "Waterfall." Aaron commanded calmly. Empoleon raised its arms and a tower of water suddenly arose around it, obscuring Azumarril's Aqua Jet's path and concealing its target. "Switch to Aqua Tail!" Misty quickly added. Azumarril used the boost from Aqua Jet to leap out of the water, effaced the water veil, swings its tail, and unleashed a small piercing wave from the ball at the end of its tail. The Aqua Tail lacerated through the tower of water and caused the whole thing to collapse. "Not bad." Aaron commented. "If you like that, you'll love this, Aaron!" Misty said. "But you're target is nowhere in sight sadly." Aaron announced. Like he said, Empoleon somehow disappeared after that scene; no one could tell its whereabouts. "Huh? Where'd it go?" Misty questioned as she and Azumarril looked around._

_"Steel Wing." Aaron ordered. The Aqua Mouse was suddenly and forcefully jettisoned out of the water by powerful fin that was glowing silver and light blue. "AZU!" It screamed in pain as it received the damage and was sent flying upward. "Of course it would be underwater..." Misty groused as she mentally slapped herself at the rather obvious outcome. "There's more," Aaron proclaimed, "Waterfall." Instead of being enshrouded by another tower of water, Empoleon was actually elevated to Azumarril's height by the same column of H20. "Azumarril, use Aqua Jet to create distance!" Misty commanded. "Grab its tail, go for a ride." Aaron countered. The Aqua Mouse Pokemon shot away using Aqua Jet; however, the claws of the Emperor Pokemon managed to hook itself onto the black, squiggly tail and was literally right behind Azumarril as it went away._

_"Ice Beam." "Emp!" Empoleon opened its beak and fired an Ice Beam in order to enclosed Azumarril in an icy prison from the water used for its Aqua Jet. "Azumarril!" Misty exclaimed in concern and astonishment. "Is it me or did Aaron use a loose version of the Ice Aqua Jet?" Ash commented pensively. "I don't think "loose" is a good adjective, Ash," Brock compromised, "I mean as you can plainly tell, Aaron's literally using it _on_ Misty's Azumarril."_

_"Release it and fire your Hyper Beam." Aaron commanded while closing its eyes. Empoleon removed its claws from the tail of Azumarril (the only thing not frozen on it); the frozen Water-type began its descent while Empoleon charged orange-yellow energy in its beak. _"Oh no..." _Misty thought grimly,_ "How is Azumarril going to avoid Hyper Beam if the only thing on it not frozen is its tail...OH!" _"Azumarril, Aqua Tail to soften your impact!" Aaron's right eye opened up halfway, "Oh?" The blue ball at the end of the Water-type's tail illuminated in an azure hue and unleashed spiraling of light blue water. At this point, Empoleon fired its Hyper Beam. A great big watery explosion was elicited when the Hyper Beam clashed onto the Aqua Tail and the surface of the pool._

_"Clever, Misty," Aaron remarked in an intrigued tone, "You utilized the only aspect your Azumarril had at the moment to save itself from Empoleon's Hyper Beam." Misty smiled suddenly as she affirmed, "That's not all it did. Aqua Jet!" _

_Out of nowhere, as Empoleon landed on a platform, Azumarril shot out from the water behind it. Before the Emperor Pokemon could even react, it was struck by the Aqua Jet. "Way to battle back, Misty!" Ash cheered ecstatically as Pikachu did the same. "But this is _Misty _we're talking about," Brock smiled, "I doubt she'll let him take advantage like that." Dawn said in a hushed voice," Wow, Misty's as just as amazing." "Piplup!" Piplup squeaked in objection, apparently still preferring Aaron even in the current circumstances he was in. _

_"You used the impact from Hyper Beam to shatter Azumarril from its prison...I should've known judging from the blast radius of the explosion." Aaron enounced as Empoleon was currently being chased by Azumarril in the pool. "Told you." Misty stated in response and then ordered, "Now Hydro Pump!" Azumarril judged out of the water and fired a giant gush of water from its mouth._

_"OK, I've studied her statistics enough," Aaron said to himself, "Then to end this game. Empoleon, dive down to avoid." The Emperor Pokemon quickly dived into the water so that Hydro Pump could strike the surface with a watery bang. "Ice Beam." Before the water could splash down, all of the airborne vats of liquid were suddenly frozen in place. "I see what you're trying to do, Aaron." Misty articulated, "Not happening! Aqua Tail!" The Aqua Mouse, while descending downward, flipped over so that its tail received the majority of the downward momentum. It impacted against the ice and caused a giant tidal wave to sprout out, shattering the ice instantly. _

_"Hyper Beam! Now!" Aaron shouted. "Here it comes, Azumarril! Watch your back!" Misty informed in alarm. To her and the Aqua Mouse's surprise, Empoleon revealed itself amidst from the icy and watery wreckage of Ice Beam and Aqua Tail rather than performing Azumarril's previous action with Aqua Jet, something Misty had formerly expected. "W-wait! Huh?" Misty cried out in confusion. "That's what you get for assuming I was copying you rather than simply luring into a false sense of security," Aaron said while crossing his arms and closing his eyes. The Emperor Pokemon discharged Hyper Beam again and this time scored a direct, critical hit._

_"Azumarril!" Misty screamed out. "Whoa..." Ash whispered in stupefaction. "...But I had forgot Misty was battling _Aaron _out of all people." Brock stated in realization. "GO AARON!" Dawn cheered loudly whilst shooting out of her seat; Pikachu and Piplup fell over in their current locations in surprise while Brock and Ash had to cover their ears suddenly. "And I'm afraid that mistake is costly." Aaron said as Azumarril's eyes were replaced with swirls of discontinuity. "And now it's game over for you, Misty."_

Dawn took part in the Sunyshore Contest Battle. Knowing Aaron would be present in the contest, she trained really hard. She had her training session with Pachirisu and Cyndaquil, her chosen pokemon to partake, interrupted by a Gengar who was scaring her Pokemon out of concentration and into disarray. A mysterious teen followed up with the act, now frightening Brock, Dawn, and Ash. The character's name was Ian, apologizing for the inconvenience despite the fact the scaring was intentionally. Aaron, who was watching from afar, came out of nowhere and voice his opinion: it was blatantly rude and mean to do such a thing.. Ian apologized once more claiming it was just 'harmless fun'. Even so, Aaron wanted to teach Ian a lesson.

_Ian laughed elatedly as he enjoyed the annoyed yet terrified expressions on Dawn, Brock, and Ash's on faces. "Oh man! You need to learn to lighten up!" He said as he managed to stop his hysterics. "You need to learn to be considerate of others..." Ash growled menacingly as his eyes tightened in defiance. "Man, I said I was just-"_

_"Whatever it was..." A voice suddenly spoke in reprimand, "It was blatantly rude and absolutely mean to perform such a thing!" Everyone turned to the source of the authoritative voice and, to their surprise, it was Aaron. _

_"Aaron!" Ash exclaimed. _

_"What are you doing here?" Brock questioned. _

_"Better yet, _when _did you get here?" Dawn asked. _

_"Recently from watching from afar." Aaron answered but his hardened eyes were still glued to the sinister teen. "Ian, you _still _do that crazy hobby of yours?" He interrogated, souding quite irritated. "Heh, you know it, Aar." Ian responded with a proud grin. "Wait a minute," Ash interjected, "You two know each other?" _

_Ian answered, "Oh yeah. I met this guy loooong time ago, back in Lavender Town actually. Aaron and I have quite the history together." _

_Aaron added, "Yeah, he's right. Back when I first started my journeys, Ian and I and another person were traveling companions. Surely, we are best friends...but Ian here likes to scare random people...it's a rather deplorable characteristic of him." During the course of that statement, Aaron's mood shifted from nostalgia to beration. _

_"It's simply harmless fun, guys. Gosh." Ian claimed while putting his hands up defensively. "Hmph." Was Aaron's indifferent response; he really wanted to erase that so-called hobby of Ian's from existence but now what was not time nor the place for such._

However, Ash did not possess the amount of patience Aaron, so he challenged Ian to a three-on-three battle. Ian only used Spiritomb, who defeated Gliscor, Floatzel, and Pikachu easily. While Ash was left in a state of shock, Brock realized that Ian had the skills to back up his actions and words. In the contest, Zoey and Dawn were defeated by Ian's Gengar. Aaron and Ian faced each other in the finals. During the course of battle, they realized their strategies were similar to an extent. Aaron's Shieldon, who was a novice to the matter, was lingering on the precipice of defeat until it evolved to Bastiodon and decimated Gengar.

_Shieldon struggled to stand back up, but it was completely exhausted after the constant beating it suffered from the Ghost/Poison-type levitating above it. "Heh heh heh," Ian chuckled with a grin, "It seems like your Shieldon is at its limits, Aaron. Face it...the end is here." Aaron exhaled sharply refusing to show Ian any signs of aggravation. He looked up the big screen; T-minus one minute remained on the timer, and Ian's point circle was at 47% while his was at 51%_. _Despite such, Shieldon looked like it would collapse any second against the rather lively Gengar it was combating._

_"The end, Aaron Shadow!" Ian shouted, "Gengar, Shadow Ball!" The Shadow Pokemon chuckled sinisterly as it formed dark antimatter in its hands in the shape of a sphere. Shieldon refused to lose; it wanted to prove to its trainer that even a first-timer could dominate in new terrain. The Shield Pokemon's determination finally manifested itself by causing its whole body to illuminate a bright white color._

_"What the?" Ian exclaimed in surprise while Gengar was left flabbergasted. "I'm afraid the game has just begun, Ian Darusu." Aaron proclaimed with a smile. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is something that we won't see alot during a Pokemon Contest!" Marian said through her mic. "Shieldon's evolving!" Ash pointed out from the stands as he, Dawn, and Brock watched in amazement. The white glowing body of Shieldon underwent rapid metamorphosis. Eventually, the light faded in order to reveal Shieldon's evolved form, the Steel/Rock-type Bastiodon._

_"Bastiodon!" The Shield Pokemon bellowed powerfully. "Uh-oh/Gengar..." Ian and Gengar mumbled in unison and grimly. "Wow, Bastiodon looks great!" Dawn said in amazement. "And ready to finish this too!" Ash added in enthusiastically. "Now then, let's see what my new partner can do!" Aaron exclaimed as he pointed at Gengar, "Rock Slide!" _

_"Hurry and fire that Shadow Ball!" _

_Bastiodon's eyes illumined a dim brownish color and then boulders spontaneously started to cascade toward Gengar. The Ghost/Poison finally discharged Shadow Ball and managed to destroy the first line of boulders; this caused Aaron's points to decease to 44%. "Avoided that disaster..." Ian announced in relief. "I don't see why you're getting so lax." Aaron stated with a smirk. From the smoke, the second line of falling rocks from Rock Slide appeared. "Gengar, Psychic!" Ian quickly commanded; Gengar's red eyes altered to a pinkish color as the boulders were halted in place. _

_"Exactly what I wanted you to do." Aaron declared and then commanded, "Shock Wave!" Bastiodon released a good amount of thin yet widespread volts of electricity at the preoccupied Gengar. "Darn!" Ian cried out as his Ghost/Poison-type was shocked by Shock Wave. Unable to handle the stress of keeping Psychic up, Gengar stopped but continued to be shocked. The Rock Slide resumed falling consequently. "Time to add some injury to insult! Avalanche!" Suddenly, accompanying the falling rocks was now falling snow. "Gengar, watch out!" Ian alarmed, but Gengar was still being restricted of movement thanks to Shock Wave. Eventually the combination of Ice and Rock slammed down on Gengar with tremendous force._

_"Gengar!"_

_"Game over."_

_It was indeed "game over" as Aaron described. Gengar crawled out from the wreckage but had swirls of discontinuity in its eyes. The trio of judges sounded their buzzers meaning Gengar was officially unable to continue battling in the Pokemon Contest. "With a newly evolved Bastiodon and quickly turning the tables, Aaron is hereby our Sunyshore City Contest winner!" Marian announced as he screen displayed his and Bastiodon's images with the words "WINNER"; the crowd was sent into a jovial uproar._

After a handshake and a couple of words, Ian and Aaron began a big rivalry. Aaron apologized to Ian for harshly attacking his "hobby", but Ian countered back by saying that he realized it was out-of-hand and will moderate his activities more. After so, Aaron gave Dawn the Sunyshore Contest Ribbon and wished Ash good luck in his Gym Battle. When questioned about his actions, Aaron simply revealed he had accomplished getting all Gym Badges and Contest Ribbons before departing.

_It was now sunset as the Sunyshore City Contest was officially coming to a close. Ian and Aaron shook hands in a sportsmanlike manner in front of the entrance/exit to the Contest Hall with Brock, Dawn, and Ash watching. "Man, Aaron, you still got it." Ian said as he retracted his hand. "You know it." Aaron responded rather ostentatiously. "But let's just get one thing straight," Ian suddenly articulated, "Next time, you lose. I _will _defeat you in battle and it's _going _to be soon." Aaron sighed, not of exasperation but out of content, "Ian, in case you haven't noticed, trash talk belongs in a garbage can."_

_"Whatever!"_

_All present then heartily chuckled for a couple of moments until Aaron announced, "Well, I guess we'd better part ways. I'll see you all at the Grand Festival or Pokemon League respectively." Aaron tipped his hat dismissively as he began sauntering off. "See ya, Aaron!" Brock said as he waved with his crew. "I'll be at the Pokemon League for sure!" Ash proclaimed. "Same goes with the Grand Festival!" Dawn added. "You can bet on that!" Ian shouted determinedly._

_Aaron waved back without looking as he continued his walk, but then suddenly remembered. "Oh right!" He turned around and yelled, "Hey Dawn!" The blue-haired coordinator, who was also leaving with her peeps, looked at the hat-wearing brunette in confusion, "Yes, Aaron?" Aaron threw something up into the air from his far-off position. Dawn looked up to see something falling toward and held out her hands to catch the object. It was the Sunyshore City Contest Ribbon. ""W-Wait! This is _your _ribbon, Aaron!" Dawn pointed out objectively. "I don't need it!" Aaron responded, "I have all of my ribbons! You can keep it! I think you deserve it more, so you better take this opportunity wisely!" Before the Twinleaf Town resident could object furthermore, Aaron began to walk off into the distance. _

_"Wow, that's very nice of Aaron..." Ash said. "I know, how many people actually give a ribbon to someone?" Brock stated. "...You mean to tell me I was an experiment?" Ian exclaimed in outrage, "Ooooooh, I'm _soooo _going to beat ALL of your behinds in the Grand Festivals!"_

_Dawn looked at the ribbon with mystified expression as Aaron's short words replayed in her mind. With a joyful and content smile, she held the ribbon close to her heart as she thought, _"Thank you SO much, Aaron...I WILL take this opportunity!"

Later on, Ash gained access to the Pokemon League and, because of Aaron's generosity, Dawn gained access to the Grand Festival. The Pokemon League was the first competition to be out of the way. Among Ash, there were also a plethora of people involved; the most notable trainers included Ash himsef, Aaron, Nando, Conway, Barry of Twinleaf Town, Paul, and Ritchie/Sparky. The latter two both surprised and exited Ash who anticipated a great tournament. After grueling battles, Paul, Aaron, Ritchie, and Ash were in the Final Four.

Aaron, slightly upset that Paul uses Pokemon for power, was the destined opponent for Paul. Scizor defeated Ursaring and Weavile but was beaten by Magmortar. Empoleon defeated Magmortar and had a double knockout with Gliscor. Paul's Torterra defeated Steelix and Lucario. Finally, Aaron's Magneton defeated both Torterra and Honchkrow for Aaron to go on to the finals. Paul was irritated and after a lecture by Aaron, held a small grudge on him. Ash defeated Ritchie with Pikachu who beat Sparky as payback from their previous battle.

With the results of the Final Four set and seen, Ash and Aaron's battle in the Final Round commenced with Lucario defeating Gliscor. Staraptor subsequently defeated Lucario using its speed and aerodynamics. Initially, Aaron sent out Empoleon to take care of Ash's Staraptor, but recalled it in order to match the aerial techniques it possessed; so Aaron sent out Skarmory, but it was defeated by Staraptor as well. Now, with a clear idea of how Staraptor battled, Aaron sent Empoleon back out into the battle and defeated it. After Staraptor's defeat, Ash released Infernape into the battle, and the battle with Empoleon ended in a double knockout after activating their infamous Abilities. Ash, determined to beat Aaron and claim victory, then started to use his famous hot-blooded battle style.

_"Empoleon and Infernape are unable to battle! This round results in a draw!" The referee officiated as it raised both of the flags in each of his hand. "What an amazing clash between the two final evolutions of the Fire- and Water-type starters of Sinnoh!" The announcer shouted through the numerous amount of speakers in the stadium, "I definitely don't think something of that calibur will ever happen again, folks!" The large screen overhead that displayed the images of Aaron and Ash and their current Pokemon suddenly blotted the images of Infernape on Ash's side and Empoleon on Aaron's side._

_Ash recalled his soaked Infernape while Aaron recalled his scorched Empoleon. The Pallet Town resident put away that Pokeball as he thought, _"Oh man...I knew Aaron was strong, but seeing his power first-hand is something else. His Lucario, Skarmory, and Empoleon were so skilled that whatever my Staraptor, Gliscor, and Infernape did he could counter it! I barely managed to beat those three..."

_"Ash, we're waiting." Aaron's voice suddenly spoke, snapping the raven-haired trainer back into his senses. He had not realized that Aaron had sent out a Bastiodon into the battle and was currently awaiting Ash's next choice of Pokemon. "Oh sorry for keeping you waiting, Aaron." Ash quickly apologized as he took out his next Pokeball, "But now the REAL fun begins! I'm going to show you that I can be a powerful trainer like you by showing my TRUE strength! Torterra, I choose you!" After that invigorating but short speech of determination, Ash tossed out his Pokeball and the Continent Pokemon was released, eager to take down the other behemoth on the side of the field._

_"I'd be honored if you did so." Aaron muttered with an agog grin as Bastiodon dug its left back leg in readiness. "Begin!" The referee declared as he raised both of the flags. _

_"Here I come, Aaron!"_

_"Bring it, Ash!"_

However, his headstrong battle style did not go as planned and resulted with Torterra and Floatzel both losing against Bastiodon. Aaron, rather disappointed in the outcome, then revealed his battle tactics; he analyzes his opponent's skills and attacks and quickly thinks of a counter. Offensively, he balances out his Pokemon's abilities and uses skills to overcome their weaknesses. All this is performed while Aaron remains levelheaded and circumspect.

_"Floatzel is unable to battle! Bastiodon is the winner!" The referee officiated as he raised his left-hand flag that represented Aaron's side. "And Aaron practically closes the door on Ash in probably the worst possible!" The announcer vociferated, "Ash has been rendered to his last Pokemon while Aaron still has three more to go!" Ash was absolutely aghast; he could not believe how easily Bastiodon laid waste to both Torterra and Floatzel. Usually when he resorted to his trademark fiery determination, his Pokemon would be able to go against all odds and pull out a miracle, but the exact opposite just occurred, and he was now in the most unfavorable position he has experienced in his whole career. _

_"Oh Ash..." Dawn whispered sympathetically. "Man...Aaron has unbelievable skills..." Brock remarked uneasily, "He's one of the few trainers I've seen be able to do something like this." Dawn looked at Brock and asked, "Do you think Ash can rectify himself?" Brock did not look back but only bit his lips slightly as he said, "I honestly don't know, Dawn...but I think Ash may be finished."_

_Ash gritted his teeth and clenched his free hand as he recalled his fallen Floatzel back into its Pokeball. Aaron had a disappointed countenance as he placed both of his hands on his hips. He questioned his frustrated opponent, "What happened? I thought you were going to show me your true strength? Was that it right there?" Ash did not respond because he couldn't tell if Aaron was being genuinely confused or spitefully abrasive. _

_"Stop doing that." Aaron demanded austerely as he let his arms drop. "Stop what?" Ash spat back as Pikachu looked at him in disquietude. "You clenching your left hand and gritting your teeth," Aaron pointed out, "You showing obvious signs of frustration...you need to quit that right this moment!" Ash's formerly frustrated and aghast expression was suddenly replaced with a mystified and puzzled one. "You cannot allow yourself to become mad or frustrated at any time during a battle. If you do, you must catch that and stop yourself before your opponent does himself." Aaron coached critically, "Right now, I'm being merciful to you."_

_"But..." Ash complained softly, "Why you are-...How could-" _

_Aaron instantly cut him off with a question, "Ash, have you figured out _my _battling capabilities as I've ascertained yours?" Ash looked at him and replied with a shake of his head. "Throughout all of my battles, including this one, I let myself and my Pokemon stay in a defensive mode so that I can analyze my opposition's abilities and skills." Aaron explained as Bastiodon yawned in disinterest, "As it progresses, I deduce the best possible methods and counters so that I can proficiently battle. Concerning my Pokemon, I make sure they are adjusted to such by having their strengths suited for the worst case scenarios. It sounds tedious, but trust me, my Pokemon can do it perfectly and as quickly as possible. Even in the heat of battle, I am able to do this because I don't mad when things do not go as planned! I stay levelheaded so that I come back and claim victory!"_

_Ash looked up to the sky thoughtfully, _"Stay levelheaded, huh...?" _He pondered on Aaron's words so that he could register it and finally understood why his performance was so meager. _"I see...Time to try it out then!"_ "Pikachu, you're up next!" Ash suddenly exclaimed as he faced Aaron with his determined expression returning. "Pika!" Pikachu rushed onto the battlefield as electricity sparkled in its crimson cheeks. Bastiodon smirked and ready for the next battle it had. "And finally after an invigorating speech from his opponent, Ash sends out his final Pokemon Pikachu!" The last slot on Ash's side of the screen brightened up to reveal Pikachu's image._

_"Begin!"_

_"Time to end this game."_

_"Not on my watch, Aaron."_

With his new-found resolve, Ash goes against the odds mixing his headstrong approach with a calmer thought process by defeating Bastiodon...

_"IRON TAIL!" Ash passionately shouted. Bastiodon, paralyzed from the previous Thunderbolt it was forced to endure, was powerless to prevent an impressive electrically-enhanced Iron Tail from lacerating its face and draining the last amounts of its energy. The Steel/Rock-type Pokemon fell over in defeat with swirls of discontinuity replacing its eyes. "Bastiodon is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" The ref announced as he raised the right-hand flag representing Ash and Pikachu. Ash took a deep breath to alleviate the nervousness welled inside his chest_. _"OK, so far thinking calmly is working." Ash said to himself. _

_"Not bad, Ash!" Aaron positively remarked as he recalled his fallen Bastiodon, "I won't lie. That was pretty cool what Pikachu did with Quick Attack. You purposely let it absorb and manipulate the Shock Wave Shield by running circles around Bastiodon. Next, you unleashed a Thunderbolt onto the Shock Wave Shield while its defensive reaction was underway to throw off the rotation. That only caused it to turn against Bastiodon; then, there was no way for my Bastiodon to react properly because of incapacitation. That's when you went for the kill with an Iron Tail!"_

_"Thanks, Aaron. I couldn't have done it if you hadn't gave me that pep-talk!"_

_"Any time. I find it deplorable defeating an opponent that wallows in frustration unless they've proven they need to be. Now then, shall we continue?" Aaron stated with smirk as he took out his next Pokeball. "Oh yeah!" Ash cordially responded with an eager smirk. "Then you better get ready! Because this one's gonna REALLY test your mettle!" Aaron shouted as he threw out his Pokeball._

...and Steelix with Pikachu. This greatly surprised Aaron as Pikachu's only offensive move was Iron Tail when up against Steelix. Interested to see how the remainder of the battle goes, Aaron sends out Magneton.

_Steelix roared in pain as Pikachu slashed its face with a powerful spinning Iron Tail. "Steelix, no!" Aaron shouted in disbelief as the colossal Steel/Ground Pokemon collapsed to the ground with a booming thud. "Steelix is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" The announcer was thrown into joyous hysteria, "ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Pikachu has defied all laws of physics as it stands as Steelix's conqueror in this round!" _

_Aaron blinked in avid disbelief as he recalled Steelix and contemplated, _"Wow...Pikachu's only offensive move was Iron Tail this whole time yet Ash managed to revolutionize it and beat my Steelix. Man, Ash is a good strategist when he wants to be." _The brunette suddenly let an animated smirk form across his face as he announced, "Now I'm very interested to see how this battle is going to end! I think it's time this we settle this, Ketchum!"_

_"I wouldn't want it any other way, Shadow!"_

_"Magneton!" Aaron shouted informatively. The Magnet Pokemon behind him nodded and floated onto the battlegrounds. The sixth and final spot on Aaron's line of Pokemon lit up and revealed Magneton's image. "This battle is breathtaking..." Dawn said completely happy and excited to be able to witness greatness at its pinnacle. "You can say that again, Dawn!" Brock agreed zestfully, "We can officially say these two are on equal grounds now!"_

_"And it has come down to this, folks!" The announcer boomed elatedly, "Aaron's signature Magneton versus Ash's signature Pikachu! Which Electric-type will win? We'll just have to find out!"_

_"Begin!"_

After a very long and tiresome, the battle ended with Pikachu fainting after a Volt Tackle-Hyper Beam clash. Thus, Aaron won the Pokemon League.

_"Magneton, Hyper Beam with all your might!" Aaron commanded anxiously._

_"Pikachu, full-power Volt Tackle!" Ash commanded with gusto._

_Both Pokemon knew this was it...all or nothing...winner take all. Using that last bit of their energy from the exhausting battle, they began the phases of their final attack. Magneton charged up orange-yellow energy in the center of its metallic body; Pikachu rushed forward while covering itself with a vast amount of intense electricity. In the current circumstances, it seemed that the Mouse Pokemon would be able to connect Volt Tackle before Magneton could complete charging Hyper Beam._

_"Here it comes!" Brock exclaimed as the final clash was beckoning. "Oh I can't watch!" Dawn cried out as she turned away, unable to suppress the suspense anymore. "Pika Pika Pika PIIII-KA!" A Volt Tackle-induced Pikachu was now directly in front of the Electric/Steel-type pokemon and vigorously hopped up in order to deliver the strike. "DO IT!" Aaron screamed at the top of his lungs. Magneton instantaneously discharged Hyper Beam, but was in such close proximity to Pikachu that the resulting explosion engulfed them both._

_Aaron and Ash pulled down their respective hats so that their eyes could be shielded from the smoke and dust kicked up from the powerful implosion. "Forget what I said about Empoleon and Infernape!" The announcer yelled in suspense, "This is a true clash of the titans, except between two Electric-types! But sadly there can only be ONE victor in this awesome bout!" Everyone knew he was right. Either Pikachu or Magneton would be the winner and it would be revealed when the smoke decides to subside._

_Eventually, the smoke did such. Every single person and Pokemon spectating the match-up, either at home or live, were literally on the edge of their seats as the smoke finally thinned out to reveal the status of both Pokemon. Magneton was floating in the air staring indignantly at Pikachu while the latter was standing on its feet returning the stare. No one moved, no one even breathed, and certainly no one spoke as they let fate decided the next event._

_Magneton and Pikachu's expression softened into expressions of respect and thankfulness...Then, a small thud sounded to signal the end of the one of them..._

_"...Pikachu is unable to battle!" The ref officiated. The pure Electric-type was the Pokemon that fell inferior to its conqueror; Ash gasped but he could not feel sad, frustrated, or even disappointed...in fact, he was happy and proud. "Magneton is the winner and the victory goes to Aaron!"_

Dawn intently watched whole the tournament to learn Aaron's skills. She knew a fraction of them going into the Grand Festival and kept this in mind throughout the whole thing. Dawn, Aaron, Zoey (whom defeated Nando's Lopunny and Kricketune in earlier rounds), and Ian (whom defeated Kenny's Empoleon and Machoke also earlier in the rounds) all lasted until the Final Four.

Ian, who was Aaron's semifinal opponent, was very eager to get the opportunity to battle him once again. Ian's Mismagius and Shedinja clashed with Aaron's Magneton and Lucario. Near the climax of the battle, an interesting twist happened when Magneton evolved into Magnezone. With the newfound edge, Lucario and Magnezone proceeded to defeat Mismagius and Shedinja. Ian was disappointed at his lost and vowed he will defeat Aaron one of these days. Their rivalry now burned even greater.

Dawn was really excited that she could possibly face Aaron in the finals, but she had to beat Zoey before such could happen. Zoey's Glameow and Leafeon were pitted against Dawn's Buneary and Togekiss. The two rivals battled with everything they had up until the timer ran out and it came to a judge's decision. Dawn's points were unfortunately one-fourths less than Zoey's, so she lost. Aaron and his Bastiodon and Skarmory defeated Zoey's Finneon and Gastrodon in the finals, winning him the Grand Festival. He congratulated Zoey for a great battle and, even though they never battled, Aaron thanked Dawn as well.

Now, that the adventure in the Sinnoh Region was said and done, everyone parted ways back to their homes in their respective regions. Ash went back to Pallet Town, Dawn went back to Twinleaf Town, Brock went back to Pewter City, and Aaron went back to Metropolis Town. Ian went to his hometown of Lavender Town. May won the Johto Grand Festival and went back to Petalburg City. Misty successfully captured a couple of Sinnoh's water Pokemon and went back to Cerulean City.

Like every time when our heroes conquer a region and return, things became oddly quiet.

Which now leads to the present...

**Ending Author Notes**

As you can plainly tell, the prologue simply explains and describes the events that occurred between the end of PS and the beginning of PS2 that contribute to the events ensuing. The actual activity in the Tenla Region begins in the next chapter. Hopefully, you think this story is at least somewhat or a little bit interesting and continue on. You aren't forced to, but I would appreciate it if you would leave a review every now and then to point out flaws, something you like, or any acceptable constructive criticism.

Adieu and Adios!


	2. An Interesting Start

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**An Interesting Start**

"To think, all that happened so quickly...Time flies when you're having so much fun..."

13-year-old Ash Ketchum thought has he lied on his bed and looked at the ceiling pensively. He was reminiscing on the old times. "Pika...(Yeah...)" Pikachu replied softly, curled up near his trainer.

"Ash! Lunch is ready!" The voice of Delia Ketchum called out from downstairs. Pikachu's ears perked up as Ash yelled down in response, "Coming, Mom!" Pikachu uncurled itself and hopped out of bed as Ash got up, in his PJs, and sauntered out of his room and downstairs. Upon arriving to the lower portion of his small home, his nose was greeted with scent of the delicious cooking his mother could produce. "I already know what's cooking." Ash said contently. "Pika pika. (Indeed.)" Pikachu agreed enjoying the aroma as well.

Not wasting anymore time, Ash and Pikachu traversed into the kitchen to see Delia cooking an early afternoon lunch. "There you are, honey!" Delia said as she saw her raven-haired son appear around the corner of the entrance. "Hi, Mom." Ash greeted with a smile. "Go ahead and situate yourself at the table," Delia instructed as she removed a plate from the cabinet.

"OK!" Ash exclaimed as he practically sprinted to the dining room table (which was actually in the living room) and sat eagerly in his seat; Pikachu followed although at a slower pace. A minute or two after he and Pikachu sat themselves, Delia approached the table and placed a plate of spaghetti and meatballs with French bread in front of him, a usual early afternoon lunch favorite of Ash's. She then gave Pikachu a bowl of usual Pokemon Food.

"Thanks, ma!" Ash thanked excitedly before silently saying his grace. Then, he proceeded to start consuming his entree.

As Ash and Pikachu were having their meal, a knock on the front door sounded. "I'll get it, Ash," Delia announced as she entered the living room and approached the door. She opened it, and the Kanto Region's regional professor stood before supposedly single mother, "Oh, Professor Oak! A pleasant surprise!"

"Sorry for coming over on such short notice, Ms. Ketchum." Professor Oak said apologetically. "No, it's OK!" Delia reassured before stepping aside, "Please, come in." The gray-haired regional professor stepped inside the house, and Delia closed the door behind him.

Ash set down his eating utensils and slouched back onto his seat while rubbing his full, bulging stomach. "Ahh, that's good eating!" The raven-haired boy remarked contently. "Pika pi. (Sure is.)" Pikachu agreed with its stomach just as filled from Pokemon Food.

"Enjoying yourself, Ash and Pikachu?" Professor Oak asked humorously as he approached the young trainer. "Oh! Professor Oak!" Ash exclaimed before standing up from his seat and facing the old man, "Good to see ya!"

"Likewise, Ash." The old regional professor stated. "So what's up?" The young Ketchum asked curiously. "Well, you have been home so long, so I thought I would tell you that there is someplace new you can travel to; the Tenla Region."

"The Tenla Region? Oh sweet!" Ash exclaimed excitedly. It was finally another chance at becoming a Pokemon Master, or at least closer to achievement. "I figured you were going to tell him sooner or now, Professor Oak." Delia piped in. "Huh?" Ash said perplexed. The Kanto regional professor scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, Ash...Truth is, I could've told you sooner, but I think your mother wanted you to be home at least a little bit longer before shipping for another longer time."

Ash smiled, "It's OK. I actually missed being home; I couldn't have asked for anything else!" Delia smiled back, "Thanks for being so understanding, honey. By the way, your new traveling clothes are already upstairs." Immediately upon hearing that, the young black-haired adolescent rushed up the stairs. "And don't forget to change your underwear!" Delia shouted. A thud was heard upstairs followed by Ash's cry of 'AW, MOM!'

Professor Oak and Pikachu could only shake their heads.

* * *

A ferry was now treading the vast ocean. It's destination; the Tenla Region. The boat was loaded with trainers ready to conquer a new region, one filled with more chances and opportunities. But, someone had a more fervent enthusiasm than anyone else and his name is Ash Ketchum.

Ash Ketchum was currently on the bow of the ship. He leaned on the metallic bars as he looked at the horizon hoping to be the first to see the Tenla Region. His long-time buddy Pikachu was on his shoulder. Ash's apparel had changed considerably. The black and gold vest he wore during the Sinnoh adventures was now an over-jacket with the gold stripe outlining the shape of a mountain range. He had a navy blue undershirt and black jeans. He wore the same shoes and his trademark hat was black and a squared segment on the face of the cap was red with a Pokeball symbol (half of it black and the other half red). Like he traditionally does, he left all of his Pokemon (except Pikachu, of course) at the Lab back at Pallet Town.

_"Finally…" _he thought, _"after five years I can finally continue my dreams of being a Pokemon Master."_

He then saw land. The Tenla Region was looming over the horizon which made Ash smile heartily. On cue, the captain's voice rang throughout the whole ferry:

**WE ARE NOW BORDING THE TENLA REGION's ZUMI TOWN. STAND BY FOR DOCKING.**

"A new journey begins now…." Ash said softly.

Ash was not the only trainers ready for action in the Tenla Region. On the opposite end of the ship, two other adolescents awaited arrival. One of them was 16-year-old Aaron Shadow. Aaron still wore his trademark grayish silver hat. He wore a white, sleeveless button-up that was kept unbuttoned with silver outlines, and dark white pants with silver designs. Finally, he wore a sky undershirt with elbow-length sleeves and white highlights on the shoulders and matching tennis shoes.

The other adolescent was also a male 16-year-old. He had black, spiky hair that was groomed downwards and dark grey eyes. He wore a black cape with triangular edges at the hem. He also wore a black, short-sleeved Polo with gold stripes running down the left side of the front and gold ribbings, black denim jeans with gold stripes and designs, and finally his tennis shoes had matching colors. This was Ian Darusu, Aaron's best friend and greatest rival.

"Hey, Ian." Aaron spoke.

Ian titled his head toward the teen, "Yeah?" He responded rather emotionlessly.

"Aren't you excited? We're finally going to get some action after five years." Aaron said.

"Of course I am!" Ian replied now with emotions, "I now get another chance to squash you in battle."

Aaron only grinned, "Dream on, Ian."

**WE ARE NOW BORDING THE TENLA REGION'S ZUMI TOWN. STAND BY FOR DOCKING.**

Ian unwrapped his cloak from his body to reveal the rest of attire; he wore a long-sleeved royal purple shirt with a cyan design located predominantly on the left side of his shirt that resembled a network of tree roots in which the ends are elegantly curled up; the "roots" do no go farther than the middle of his shirt or pass the chest. He wore royal purple pants with metallic grey shoes.

"Well, let's get this show on the road." Ian said; Aaron only nodded.

Ash gazed at the clear blue seawater and light blue sky separately, admiring how the day's weather was. "Sure is a beautiful day. If only I could've gone swimming with Brock, Misty, and…" Ash's voice trailed off at the thought of all his friends.

It was awhile before Ash saw a few of his good friends; he hadn't seen Misty, May, or Max since his journey in the Hoenn Region, and the same was with Dawn and Brock during his Sinnoh journeys. Pikachu looked at him worriedly but Ash only gave a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, Pikachu, it's always tough to part with good friends, but it only makes me happy knowing that I'll meet them again someday." Ash then looked at what was in front of him, the docking bay of the Tenla Region and town that followed shortly. Ash's former gloomy demeanor disappeared completely and was replaced with sheer excitement. So much, that he couldn't contain himself and ran off the ferry.

Three sinister shadows around the corner of the captain's deck were forebodingly spying on Ash. "C'mon, you guys. We have to chase the twerp and Pikachu get away!" The woman huffed as she power-walked away. Two sighs of discontent only sounded as they followed the woman.

Following this occurrence, Ian and Aaron stepped off the ferry and Ian's light grey eyes saw the three figures. "Why do they look so familiar?" Ian thought aloud. "You say something?" Aaron inquired. "Oh, nothing…" Ian responded with a light sigh, "Let's move on to more important matters." Aaron rolled his eyes and chuckled, "You and your habits."

Only a ½ mile away from the docking bay was Zumi Town, the first location in Tenla. This had the Pokemon Laboratory where the starter Pokemon can be received and a Pokemon Center to register for the Pokemon League. Getting a starter Pokemon didn't interest Ian and Aaron so they went straight to the Pokemon Center so that Aaron could compete in the Pokemon League. Firguson City would then be the site of the first Pokemon Contest.

Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu were currently using a public video phone talking to Professor Oak. "So, you made it to the Tenla Region, huh, Ash?" the old Pokemon professor inquired, "Have you selected your starter Pokemon yet?" "Not yet, I was just on my way there, but I wanted to call you first." Ash answered. "Pika." The electric mouse piped in the background. "Well, good luck, then. Tell Professor Kagu I said hi." Professor Oak said. Right before Ash hung up, he informed Ash of one last thing, "Oh, Ash! To let you know, Gary is on his way to Tenla to break his battling hiatus.""Gary's coming here, too?" Ash exclaimed in sheer disbelief that his old rival was coming back.

Just then, a mechanical gloved hand snatched Pikachu off its trainer's shoulder.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in distress. "Huh? Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he turned and faced a floating Meowth balloon. In the balloon, he saw a red-violet-haired female, a periwinkle-haired male, and a Meowth. The humans had white uniforms with a red R on the shirt. "Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed, "don't you guys ever know when it call it quits?" The answer was obvious to Ash so the question was basically rhetorical. Team Rocket began to say their motto but Ash persisted on and yelled, "I don't want to hear that motto you guys have! Give back Pikachu!"

"Don't interrupt us, twerp!" The female screeched in response. "It doesn't matter, Jessie, we have Pikachu now." The man rationalized as he operated the static-proof contraption that imprisoned Pikachu. The yellow mouse tried to break free from the machine's grip, no avail. He tried to use Thunderbolt to break free, no avail either. "You should know by now, Pikachu, that we would safe from electricity." James said with a grin. "Now let's ship out and give this prize to the boss." Meowth sneered.

The balloon began to fly away. Ash pursued the balloon going as fast as he could, but he couldn't reach the hot-air balloon. He was starting to tire, but disregarded it. At the moment he was going to shout again, he saw a wolverine-like Pokemon jumped from a bush. Once in the light, Ash made out its appearance, it was a Typhlosion. The Volcano Pokemon jumped up very high to the actual balloon. Its hand became covered in a black and purple energy and slashed the balloon's surface. The hot-air balloon lost its air and crashed. Ash ceased his running and, through the smoke, Pikachu ran out and to his friend. Ash smiled and knelt down so that his partner could get on his shoulder. "You alright, buddy?" Ash asked out of concern. "Pikachu…" The mouse beamed in assurance.

"Typhlosion!" A male voice called out. Typhlosion growled in response to his presence be known to his trainer. Out the forest where Ash's chase led him, a boy came out. He had a gold and black hat worn backwards, Duke blue hair, a red-orange hooded jacket with a white collar and a white segment on the stomach area, gold and black shorts and shoes. After Typhlosion stood side-by-side with the other male, he spoke, "We heard yelling and saw a balloon, so I took the liberty of taking down that thing."

"Thanks, appreciate it." Ash thanked with a grin, "The name's Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"Jimmy. 13-years-old. Nice to meet you, Ash."

"And it will be our pleasure to defeat you in battle!" Jessie yelled sharply. Ash and Jimmy turned to see a Seviper. Then, James released Carnivine from its Pokeball. But like it traditionally does, he turned to its owner and bit his head. "OUCH! NOT NOW, CARNIVINE!" James screamed in pain. Meowth and James sighed exasperatedly.

Ash looked at Jimmy and asked, "You up for a battle?"

"Always," Jimmy replied eagerly before looking at his prized Volcano Pokemon, "Go, Typhlosion!" Typhlosion's red and yellow mane flared from his nape while Pikachu got down from Ash's shoulder and electricity sparked in his cheeks.

"Seviper, use Poison Tail!" Jessie commanded the snake pokemon. Its blade-edge tail illuminated purple signaling a use of poison and charged at Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash countered to this. Pikachu's zigzag tail glowed white and hardened and swished it at Seviper. Iron Tail, being statistically more powerful, overpowered the Poison Snake and sent it flying backwards.

"Carnivine, use Bullet Speed!" James ordered the Venus' Flytrap-like Pokemon. The green plant opened its massive jaws unleashing an array of seed speeding out like bullet from a machine gun. "Typhlosion, burn them up with Flamethrower and follow up with Shadow Claw!" the wolverine-like Pokemon unleashed a beam of flames from its mouth and burned Bullet Seed into crisp. Typhlosion's paw was again surrounded by a black and purple aura. He dashed in front of Carnivine, rendering it unable to react, and slashed the plant pokemon on the face.

The redheaded female growled in frustration as she threw out another Pokeball and shouted a command, "Dustox, use Whirlwind!" A purple moth-like Pokemon with green wings and gold eyes with black dots materialized from its Pokeball and flapped its wings. The harsh wind restricted movement from both Typhlosion and Pikachu. "OK, Carnivine, its snack time! Use Bite!" James commanded. It swooped over to the yellow mouse and the gold and hunter green wolverine opening its massive jaws. Dustox's Whirlwind prevented any reactions of Pikachu and Typhlosion and Ash and Jimmy were hopeless to do anything.

….But sometimes fate likes to lend a hand.

"Azumarill, Aqua Tail!" A familiar female commanded as a blue and white mouse-like Pokemon come out of nowhere. The ball at the end of its squiggly tail glowed a light blue and swished it and a tsunami-like wave came out. As soon as the huge wave crashed down hard on Team Rocket and their pokemon, they were spontaneously flying away as usual.

"Why is it that we _always_ lose to a couple of twerps!" Meowth asked rhetorically not even wanting the slightest of response. "Oh, shut it Meowth!" Jessie groused and the trio simultaneously yelled 'We're Blasting Off Again!' leaving a white star behind.

Ash and Jimmy looked at the Azumarill that had saved them both. Then, they saw another trainer jump out of the bushes in the background. Ash and Jimmy focused on a female trainer, and the former couldn't believe his eyes. Standing in front of him now was a familiar orange-haired woman. She then made a frown after awhile. "Well that's rude," she spoke, "you should at least say 'hi'!"

"Misty…is that you?" Ash said in a quiet voice, but both Jimmy and Misty managed to hear it. Misty Waterflower definitely changed in terms of appearance. Her formerly vibrant orange hair dulled in sheen somewhat but was still in its signature side ponytail. She wore a sleeveless bluish-white blouse; the horizontal line of buttons were blue with decorations that resembled a cloud or white wave. She also wore short, bluish-white shorts, and she had blue and white traveling shoes. Lastly, she wore an ivory jacket in which the cuffs, zipper lines, and underside were blue.

"Wait, you know her?" Jimmy questioned curiously. "Yeah, the last time I saw her was in the Hoenn Region, but…y-your really here?" Ash still gaped in shock. "Pikachu, you might want to give Ash a 'jolting' start." Misty suggested with a smile. Pikachu nodded its head as if he was agreeing with her. Then, Pikachu gave an electrical shock to his master. Ash yelled with yellow sparks flashed all over his body. When the shock was finished, Ash looked like used firewood. "Gee, thanks, Pikachu…" He thanked sarcastically.

"Anyway, what brings you here?" Jimmy inquired Misty. "Well, I heard about this region and I thought should give it a look around and to look for some more water pokemon. But I never thought I'd run into Ash after these years."

"You're not the only one coming here," Ash announced, "Gary's coming here, too,"

Misty raised a curious eyebrow, "Oh? Then this should be a great reunion." She smiled and then looked around, "Speaking of which, where are you two going?" Ash was first to reply, "I'm heading to Zumi Town to get my starter."

"I'm off to Firguson City, so I'll see you there, Ash." Jimmy said and began to walk away with Typhlosion following shortly. After Jimmy disappeared in the horizon, Ash turned to Misty to speak, but she beat him to the punch. "I'll tag along with you. Well, that is, if I can be on the team again."

"You're always welcomed on the team, Misty." Ash grinned and the two long-time friends made their way to Zumi Town.

And so, the new journey shines even brighter, and Ash doesn't have to start it alone. Now, Ash has a feeling that he'll be seeing more of his old rivals and friends. But he also has to be aware of the new strange events that will occur in the future. Meanwhile, as Ash and Misty made their way to Zumi Town to meet Professor Kagu, Aaron and Ian head straight for the Pokemon Center and entered, with the former wanting to register for the Pokemon League.


	3. A Feather In Distress

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

Edit (5/21/10): The chapters formerly known as _A Feather in Distress Part 1 _and _A Feather in Distress Part 2 _have been henceforth combined and edited to keep up with my changing literary style.

**A Feather In Distress**

Aaron and Ian passed through the transparent automatic doors of the Pokemon Center. Upon this, they instantly saw a multitude of trainers in the lobby lined up for registration. Apparently, Aaron will have to wait for his registration.

At that point, Misty and Ash had made their way to Professor Kagu's Pokemon Lab HQ. It was a three-story facility with an entrance that possessed large glass, grey-tinted windows with the lowermost middle one acting as an automatically opening entrance. The very top of the building had a glass dome of the same structure as the aforementioned entrance. Lastly, the Pokemon Lab HQ had a Pokemon farm behind it, signaled by the white metal gates behind it.

The duo went through the automatic doors and gasped at the sight inside. The place was an absolute catastrophe, nothing like the outside had suggested. Papers and debris were carelessly scattered everywhere, the four-side, small glass windows that provided sunlight on the first floor on the right side of the lab were shattered; glass from said windows lied dangerously on the tile floor. Some of the researchers were, oddly enough, asleep, and the ones that weren't were groaning in pain. Some of the machines had collapsed and some of the white metal panels on the wall were either bent or dented.

"What happened here?" Misty exclaimed in question. "The place looked fine outside." Ash said as he examined the damages that could be seen.

"I can explain everything." Said an approaching male voice. The longtime friends turned to see a 25-year-old man in a white lab coat and white business pants. He had rather short lavender hair and wore a pair of glasses. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Professor Xavier Ironwood Kagu." He introduced himself.

Ash and Misty followed suit with their introductions. The former proceeded to question, "So, sir, why is your lab looking this?" The lavender-haired professor inhaled sharply before explaining the situation, "We were studying Flying-type Pokemon of different regions when suddenly they went berserk. The thing that perplexes me the most is that the team that gathered them had no prior difficulties. Anyway, the certain types of damages seen are caused by certain Flying-types. The reason why practically everything is everywhere is because of Pidgeot's Gust. My fellow researchers are asleep because of Noctowl's Hypnosis," He turned to the slumbering members of the lab who, even in their state of peacefulness, obviously were in a form of agony, "and the general destruction was caused by Swellow's Sky Attack and Staraptor's Close Combat. Then they escaped through the windows." He pointed to the broken windows.

The duo let the information sink into their minds to contemplate the situation momentarily. "I know!" Ash suddenly shouted meaning an idea came to mind. "We can go get those Pokemon for you." He then suggested. "Wha…really?" Prof. Kagu questioned while blinking. "Yeah! Of course." Misty replied for Ash.

"Pika!/Azu!" The two Pokemon piped in positively.

"Thank you, but take heed to the attacks I mentioned before. I just hope they haven't caused total destruction in the town, forest, or even people." Prof. Kagu said. The four nodded, run off, and initiated the search for the Flying-type Pokemon.

Meanwhile, in the Pokemon Center, the lobby was now emptied and Aaron finished registering for the Pokemon League. "OK, Aaron Shadow, you are hereby qualified for the Tenla Pokemon League." Nurse Joy announced. "Thank you, ma'am." He acknowledged. She handed him the badge case from the Gym Badges which he gladly took. As he stowed away the case, a sound suddenly screeched irksomely, "Swellow!"

"Hm?" Ian looked toward the door. Out of nowhere, the transparent doors shattered open as a Swellow performing Aerial Ace uninvitingly entered the establishment. The wind speed from the attack was baffling; as soon the navy blue bird stopped, the wind from the Aerial Ace blew things off their foundations (except the counter or generally anything a simple breeze couldn't lift) "What the hell?" Ian shouted as he stationed himself beside Aaron. With no warning or restraint, Swellow screeched out a Hyper Beam. Nurse Joy, Ian, and Aaron barely dodged it. It then destroyed the counter completely as rubble crashed down. Swellow then used a Sky Attack to the eastward wall to create an exit and promptly flew out.

"What in the blue blazes just happened?" Aaron shouted as he helped Nurse Joy to her feet. "I think that's the Swellow Professor Kagu was studying." Nurse Joy informed the teenage boys. "That Swellow's power was amazing." Ian commented as his dark gray eyes forebodingly inspected the damages , "Look at the wreck it did." Aaron and Nuse Joy looked at the aforementioned damage caused by the Aerial Ace, Hyper Beam and Sky Attack. Aaron quickly contemplated on what to do, "You said that it belong the professor, right?" Nurse Joy nodded a soundless yes.

"OK, then. Ian, we're going to get that Swellow before it causes anymore damage."

"That I can agree on. It can seriously hurt a novice trainer that wants to catch it or just anybody in general." With that, the two ran out where the door used to be whilst calling out Magnezone and Gengar and started their search for the berserk bird.

Meanwhile Ash and Misty were sprinting after the confused and restless Noctowl and Pidgeot, the two bird Pokemon wouldn't cease their screeching and agonized cries. "Ash.…Noctowl and Pidegot aren't in good condition. We _have_ to calm them down before they make any damage to their surroundings or themselves!" Misty said with concern shrouding her eyes. "I know. But we have to get to them first!" Ash replied not slowing down.

Ash knew there was no other choice but to battle. He didn't want to harm the Pokemon, but they wouldn't listen until he could catch their attention. He bit his lip as he called out a command to his long time best friend, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" "PI….KA…CHUUUU!" The yellow rodent unleashed a massive electrical burst from his red cheeks and aimed it at the two birds.

However, Noctowl and Pidgeot saw the attack come at them a minute before it even touched them. They dodged it gracefully. Pidgeot then turned its body around, spread its wings, and prepared to use Gust.

"Azumarril, use Bubble Beam!" Misty commanded as she pointed to the demented bird. Rows of azure bubbles jetted out of Azumarill's mouth and impacted on Pidgeot before it could even so much twitch, let alone use Gust attack.

Ash realized that that particular Bubble Beam was more powerful than a normal one."Wow, Misty,…you've been training." He commented in amazement.

"Ash! The Noctowl!" Misty alerted Ash.

"Oh, right. Pikachu, Thunderbolt once more!" Thunderbolt busted out of Pikachu again only to be dodged. The owl-like Pokemon flew down to Pikachu and, when it was close enough, used Hypnosis and put the Electric-type to sleep. "Pikachu!" Ash cried out; Pikachu did not respond, but only snored. Noctowl's eyes illuminated pink as it readied itself to use Psychic; however, Azumarill suddenly used a Water Gun in retaliation. Again, the damage was out of the ordinary. Pidgeot chirped angrily as it swooped down with its wings glowing. "Misty, watch out for Steel Wing!" Ash cried out in alarm.

"Azumarill, use Hydro Pump!"

"AZU!" Azumarill spat out a twister-like gush of water at Pidgeot. The Kanto-native bird was soaking wet and in pain as the powerful blow connected. Noctowl was ready to use Hypnosis on Azumarill, but Pikachu woke up just in time and quickly used a Thunderbolt. Both bird Pokemon were electrocuted and burned to a crisp. They fell from the sky and collapsed on the ground, exhausted and drained of further will to continue.

Ash and Misty sighed in relief, but quickly put up their guard as they noticed the Staraptor flying above them and into the forest with Swellow following it after wantonly disintegrating a street pole. "C'mon! We have to go after them!" Ash yelled as he already began his jog toward the forest.

"But, Ash, what about Noctowl and Pidgeot?" Misty asked objectively. Ash's attention turned to the fallen bird Pokemon and then to the forest. He knew that was Misty was right and couldn't leave the Kanto- and Johto-native bird Pokemon lying there. He eventually admitted defeat and nodded his head in agreement and, thus, the duo promptly hauled them back to the lab.

Meanwhile, in the same forest, Aaron and Ian spotted the two flying Pokemon and immediately commenced attempts to quell their raucous behavior. "Great! That Swellow has an accomplice!" Ian groaned looking up to the navy blue bird and the grey and white raptor with mild interest. They made it to a wider-ranged area where clear shots could be inflicted.

"Now's our chance! Magnezone, Thunderbolt!" The Magnet Area Pokemon droned as it unleashed a massive amount of electricity and hit its mark. Staraptor squawked in pain and landed to the ground. "My turn." Ian declared and then gave out a command, "Gengar, Confuse Ray on Swellow." The purple ghost's eyes glowed a strange black and white. Suddenly, Swellow was discombobulated as it made irregular movements. "Now Focus Blast." Gengar charged and fired a concentrated blast of energy right at Swellow. It fell to the ground as well. "Too easy." The scary teen commented cockily.

"Wait, Ian, look!" Aaron alerted guardedly. Ian turned to see Staraptor resting on the ground glowing white, meaning Roost was in play. It regenerated Staraptor's wound. "STAR!" It trilled as a strange orange aurar engulfed it and rocketed itself to Magnezone hard, and then proceeded to unleash a barrage of kicks and punches from its wings and talons (Close Combat) "Magnezone!" Aaron exclaimed in alarm. Then, Staraptor, using awesome speed, turned to Gengar and gave it a harsh Aerial Ace. "Whoa!" Ian responded in pure surprise.

To add insult to injury, Swellow shot back up to the skies and did a frighteningly powerful succession of Hyper Beams. The landscape was being destroyed, and Gengar and Magnezone were being hurt in the process. "Return!" The two trainers held out their Pokeballs and recalled their respective Pokemon back to their resting places. Swellow stopped its mad barrage and then glowed white initiating the usage of Sky Attack. The orange aura appeared around Staraptor again signaling the use of Close Combat. They both swooped over to Aaron and Ian's direction. Aaron and Ian stared in horror; they had no time to call out another Pokemon or even move.

"Swampert, use Counter." A voice suddenly commanded. A big blue mud fish Pokemon appeared out of nowhere with a reddish aura enveloping it and blocked Close Combat and Sky Attack. Then, the intended damage was returned double the strength and blew the bird Pokemon back. There, stood a rather familiar dark-skinned person.

"Brock?" Aaron and Ian said in unison. Brock was wearing an Army camouflage vest, a black shirt underneath the vest, and dark brown pants with forest green and black shoes. Before Brock could speak to them, Staraptor used Roost again and Swellow shook off the damage.

Aaron and Ian turned their attention to the two incredibly powerful Pokemon and threw out more Pokeballs. "Go, Empoleon!" The blue emperor penguin-like Pokemon appeared its Pokeball. "Get 'em, Dusknoir." A brown ghost came out of its Pokeball. All three Pokemon stood a line valiantly, awaiting their masters' orders.

Brock started out the fight, "Swampert, use Hydro Pump!"

"Do the same, Empoleon!"

The two dual water pokemon released twister-like gushes of water from their mouth. The Hydro Pumps melded to form one big powerful Hydro Pump. The attack struck Swellow, but it managed to survive and shake off the damage. But without a healing move, its endurance was starting to tire. Ian commanded his Dusknoir to use Focus Punch on Staraptor. It connected but, alas, Roost was used again by the Normal/Flying-type bird. Ian gritted his teeth in aggravation, "This is starting to piss me off! Will they ever stay down?"

"Then, let's try doing one at a time; take out Staraptor first." Brock spoke making a recommendation. "Let's do it, then." Aaron said, "Brock, occupy that Swellow long enough so that Ian and I can incapacitate Staraptor."

"You got it, Aaron." Brock stated in concurrence. He then ordered Swampert to use Hydro Pump once more on Swellow. Aaron and Ian commenced their part of the plan. Dusknoir used Focus Punch but deliberately missed to trick Staraptor. When it was in range, Aaron told Empoleon to use Hyper Beam. Unfortunately for Staraptor, no time could be salvaged for a counter. The brown bird chirped in pain was the yellow and orange beam struck it. Staraptor fell down with a thud. It attempted to use Roost once more; however, Dusknoir used Ice Beam freezing it in a block of frozen energy. Aaron smiled triumphantly while Ian sighed in relief. But their celebrations were short as they had to help out Brock.

"Swampert, use Ice Punch!" Brock commanded. Swampert's fist was surrounded by a cold, blue aura and launched it towards Swellow. The navy blue bird did a black flip and surrounded itself in a white aura and struck back with a Sky Attack. Swampert was growing really tired.

"Empoleon!"

"Dusknoir!"

"Ice Beam!" The brown ghost and blue Emperor penguin discharged freezing cold beams at Swellow. At maximum damage, Swellow was frozen and finally fainted. Staraptor and Swellow were down for the count. "About frickin' time." Ian sighed in relief, "Damn birds."

And that insult triggered a curse.

"FEAROW!" A big light brown bird came in view and fired a Hyper Beam. Brock, Ian, and Aaron and their respective Pokemon dodged it but the misfire shattered the ice prison of Staraptor. It immediately used Roost to heal all its injuries. Swellow was done for, however. The two out-of-control Bird Pokemon flew in opposite directions. Fearow was going to the city, Staraptor was going to the ferry.

"Where did that Fearow come from?" Brock exclaimed in wonder. "I don't know, but we have to get it and that Staraptor." Aaron responded. "But the Swellow." Ian informed, "Leave it here and it's in top condition in a matter of minutes." "I'll take it back to the lab." Brock said sounding more like a recommendation than a suggestion. "OK. Ian, you go after that Staraptor. I'll get that Fearow." "Got it." The three went to their destinations. Meanwhile, the third ferry was only minutes away from the docking bay.

Ash and Misty returned Noctowl and Pidgeot to Prof. Kagu, in which he thanked them for their help. They went outside again to make another plan. "We might as well get the remaining two Pokemon." Misty said. "Right." Ash agreed. Just as Ash and Misty were preparing to leave, someone appeared from the trail leading to the lab and the person was carrying a fainted Swellow. "Brock!" Ash and Misty both yelled with a mixture of relief, shock, and happiness. After Brock turned in Swellow, the trio reunited and walked and spoke to each other, but for only a little time before they had to start their next mission.

"Hold on," Ash stopped Brock in the middle of a conversation, "Aaron and Ian are here, too?" Brock replied, "Yeah, but they separated. Ian went after Staraptor who was going to the ferry, and Aaron went after a Fearow who was heading to the city." "We better go help Ian first. Besides, that Staraptor can hurt new-coming trainers coming out of the ferry…" Misty said in a worried tone, but Brock shook his head. "Ian can take care of that. I know him well enough that he wouldn't let Staraptor do anything, so, we should help out Aaron instead." "But, either way, both places are in danger and the people there will be at stake!" Misty argued usually doing this kind of thing with Ash.

Ash looked down at Pikachu who looked back with a visible decision in its eyes. Ash nodded and looked at his two friends. "Guys!" Ash exclaimed, "Pikachu and I will go help Aaron out. You two can go to the ferry and help Ian. That way, both places will be safe."

"But, Ash, you have only have one Pokemon and that's Pikachu!" Misty was about to another verbal feud with Ash, but the hat-wearing male stopped her, "Misty, have you forgotten who I am? I'm the future Pokemon Master, and I'll have you know that I've nearly traversed half of the region; from my home, Kanto, to here in the Tenla Region! I think me and Pikachu can handle just about anything." That statement stopped Misty dead in her tracks and she frowned. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was speechless. The orange-haired ex-Gym Leader wanted to argue further, but no good comeback could be mustered up. Ash made a satisfied face and Brock smiled.

"Then it's settled," Brock stated, "C'mon, off to the port." He and Misty began to run to Ian's destination, and, as Misty was running, she thought, _"Ash, you may be older, but you still act like that same 10-year-old kid." _

**At The Ferry**

Ian was already at the docking bay and Staraptor was causing all sorts of havoc, even on the boat itself! Ian was started become irritated and held out a Pokeball ready to fight and avoid Staraptor from harming anyone else. All novice trainers run away for shelter while others stayed to watch.

**At The City**

Aaron also had successfully made it to his destination and found Fearow using Hyper Beam on nearby buildings and objects, causing smoke to rise and people to scream. Aaron didn't hesitate to release his chosen Pokemon to fight with.

**At The Ferry**

"You're going down!" Ian shouted throwing the Pokeball, "Go, Drifblim!" A purple and fuchsia-colored balloon with yellow sandbags and a taped cross and a white cloud on its head appeared out of the white light. _"Good thing it won't be windy today."_ Ian thought. Windy weather is a real disadvantage for a Balloon Pokemon, they go with the wind. Staraptor saw it and charged at it with Aerial Ace. "Silver Wind!" Drifblim flapped its four wings and a gust of silvery scales cancelled Aerial Ace and stuck Staraptor.

**At The City**

"Go, Lucario!" An Anubis-looking Pokemon appeared out of its Pokeball. Fearow looked at it as a threat and dived down on it. "Bullet Punch." Aaron commanded calmly. At lightning speed, Lucario punched Fearow in its abdomen and hit it inside a building. "Whoops." The Fearow screeched again and surrounded itself in a yellow/orange aura which was Giga Impact.

**At The Ferry**

"WHY WON'T YOU STAY DOWN!" Ian bellowed in frustration. Drifblim kept using Thunderbolt and Silver Wind, but the demented Predator Pokemon kept using Roost to alleviate the damages. However, to provide hints that Ian's efforts were worthwhile, a Thunderbolt was able to paralyze it, decreasing its speed and maneuverability significantly.

"Azumarill!"

"Swampert!"

"Hydro Pump!" Two gushes of water appeared out of nowhere in a combined state and blasted Staraptor into the water with great force. "What the hell?" Ian shouted, surprised by the sudden occurence.

"Ian!" Brock called out. The said character turned around and saw Misty and Brock.

"Brock! Misty!" Ian called out to them. Just as that happened, Staraptor came out of the water surrounded by that orange aura, which was Close Combat, and flew down to Ian and Drifblim with their backs turned.

"Watch out!" Ian turned around in pure horror to see Staraptor mere feet away from him. Drifblim wasn't fast enough it get to him.

"Blaziken, Blaze Kick!"

**At The City**

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" The yellow mouse released voltages of lightning and struck Fearow for maximum damage. It fell to the ground burnt to a crisp. "Ash! Good to see ya!" Aaron greeted cheerfully. "You too." But the salutations were halted abruptly because Fearow was using Roost to heal the damages. "Oh, man." Aaron groaned.

At that point, elsewhere, a ferry began its departure from Sinnoh to Tenla.

**At The City**

"Oh, crap, another one who uses Roost?" Aaron muttered loudly. "How did you guys do it last time-" Ash was interrupted by Fearow using Hyper Beam at them. Ash, Aaron, and the two Pokemon barely dodged the blast. Ash gritted his teeth and told Pikachu to use Agility. Pikachu moved out of Fearow's eyesight and under it. Ash then commanded Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. Unfortunately, Fearow was quick enough to fluidly dodge the attack and use Whirlwind. The whipping wind trapped Pikachu momentarily. Fearow eyed its next target, Aaron's Lucario, and used Hyper Beam at it.

**At The Ferry**

Ian, Misty, and Brock all watched as Blaziken kicked Staraptor in the face, sending it straight into a billboard a few feet above the water. Ian turned to see who his savior was a female. "It couldn't be…" Misty whispered. "May? Max?" Brock called out in confusion. "Brock, Misty, and Ian!" May said as her younger brother turned to looked at the Staraptor that had fallen in the water. May's brown hair was wrapped with an orange bandana outlined by green with the Hoenn's Pokeball symbol She had on a sleeveless scarlet shirt with every opening outlined by green. She had on a lime green skirt and red-orange shorts (a homage to her Hoenn outfit). Max's outfit was unchanged from the Hoenn adventures.

"Thanks…" Ian said but with his voice was full of skepticism and disbelief rather than acknowledgment. "No problem!" May responded cheerfully then asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

That question would temporarily be left unanswered. Just as a friendly conversation began, it ended abruptly as Staraptor appeared from underwater, flapping its wings to dry itself off. Staraptor used Close Combat once more and hit Blaziken, catching it off-guard. "That Staraptor's power is unusually strong." Max commented. "Oh, hush up, you're not helping." his older sister groaned.

**At The City**

"Good thing it isn't that bright." Aaron muttered, "Lucario, Hyper Beam." The blue and black Anubis fired a better Hyper Beam. The orange-yellow beam blasted Fearow for a good amount of damage. "Now, Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" The yellow mouse was then shrouded by a yellow aura. It tackled the giant bird, paralyzing it and dealing heavy damage. "Now Aura Sphere!" Lucario gathered its Aura energy into the form of a ball in its hand and threw it at the sparrow.

**At The Ferry**

Staraptor used Roost to fully replenish itself. It was outnumbered by Blaziken, Drifblim, Swampert, and Azumarill. The grey and white raptor used Aerial Ace going toward the group not looking for a particular target. They dodged on their trainers command. "Azumarill, Aqua Tail!" "Follow up with Thunderbolt." The aqua mouse's tail illuminated blue and whipped out a wave. It drenched the bird's feathers. The electric maneuver followed up. Amazing damage was dealt to it.

**At The Ferry**

Once again, Staraptor used Roost to replenish its health and energy to maximum standards. Despite being outnumbered, it wasn't going out without a fight. "God dammit!" Ian bellowed angrily, "Use a different move already!" Ian scolded the demented flying Pokemon but his reply was angry screech. "What did you say about my mom, you asshole?" Ian exclaimed, pointing an angry index at the Predator Pokemon.

Misty spoke, "Ian, calm down and tell us how you and Aaron dealt with it last time before that Fearow came." Before Ian could even reply, Staraptor proceeded with another Aerial Ace and its target was Azumarill. The Aerial Ace hit its mark and the aqua mouse fell backwards with swirls of discontinuity in its eyes. "Azumarill!" Misty cried out as she ran towards her fallen partner. But as she reached her Pokemon, Staraptor was about use another Aerial Ace on Misty, prompting May to react quickly. "Blaziken, Sky Uppercut!" The humanoid fowl Pokemon's fists illuminated as it punched Staraptor away in the beak, "We can't keep this up forever." She complained not looking away from neither Blaziken or Staraptor. "May's right, we have knock out Staraptor or else it'll never stop using Roost." Brock stated.

"Then allow me and Drifblim to do honors." Ian announced with his grey leering at the recovering Normal/Flying-type with a mixture of malice and eerie anticipation.

**At The City**

Ash and Aaron weren't having much luck either as Fearow once again used Roost. Ash's eyes narrowed at the huge sparrow-like Pokemon, Fearow only seemed to be assumed by Ash's expression. "I can tell this Fearow isn't going to give up." He muttered. "Pika…" Pikachu groaned. The Fearow flew up high into the sky, blocking the sun, so that it appeared a huge shadow covering Aaron, Ash, Pikachu, and Lucario.

Then moments later, the huge Normal/Flying-type Pokemon flew down towards them and shot out another Hyper Beam obviously trying to outmatch Lucario's Hyper Beam. The group was able to evade the huge orange-yellow beam, but black smoke slightly blocked visual contact. "Ash, the more we let this Fearow attack us, the more it is destroying the environment." Aaron said in an upset tone. "I know, but how do we stop Fearow without it repeatedly using Roost?" Aaron was about to answer when Fearow shot another ferocious Hyper Beam.

Again, they all dodged the fatal maneuver. "Alright, Ash, Ian and I beat Swellow by using an Ice Beam to freeze it. Luckily, my Empoleon should be fine now. After it freezes, use Volt Tackle to finish it. Then, it'll be unable to Roost." Aaron explained intelligently.

"OK." Ash understood the plan. "Lucario, take a break." Aaron recalled Lucario back to its Pokeball and sent out Empoleon. The demented bird used Giga Impact on Empoleon. But it was effortlessly bounced back because of Empoleon's immense defense. Seeing it as an opportunity, Aaron ordered, "Ice Beam, now!" Empoleon beak charged up an Ice Beam, fired the cold burst of energy, and it struck the large sparrow Pokemon. Fearow was completely frozen.

"That's our cue! Pikachu, Volt Tackle." Pikachu's yellow aura covered itself and tackled the frozen bird for an innumerable amount of damage. Fearow attempted to use Roost but it had no more energy as swirls replaced its eyes. "Finally." Aaron gave a sigh of relief, "But now what to do with the Fearow?" The two contemplated the small situation.

"I know! I'll capture it!" Ash exclaimed, "This is the Pokemon League, so I'll need a strong Pokemon like that Fearow. Besides, Professor Kagu never said anything about a Fearow. So, I'll just assume it's a overly wild Pokemon." Aaron actually thought that was a good idea. Therefore, "Pokeball, go!" Ash threw the red and white Pokeball and the Fearow disappeared in the spherical device. A couple of twitches and the light's blinking stopped. "Alright, I just caught a Fearow!"

**At The Ferry**

The crazed Staraptor used another powerful Aerial Ace. Again, everyone dodged while sharp wind was picking up. Drifblim started to go off-course because of the whipping gusts. "Somebody please stop that thing from whipping up so much wind!" Ian ordered impatiently, "Drifblim can't get into position!"

"What else can we do?" Brock replied gritting his teeth, "That Staraptor's too fast for us!"

Staraptor's orange aura, signaling the use of Close Combat, appeared and dived to Misty's Starmie who was using Rapid Spin. They collided, but the force supplementing Staraptor's erratic assault was too strong for Starmie to endure. Thus, it fainted and landed on the concrete.

Swampert roared as it unleashed a Hydro Pump but it was easily evaded. Drifblim used Thunderbolt and scored another connection. Before Staraptor could use Roost to heal the critical damage, Blaziken appeared in front of it and May commanded it to use Sky Uppercut. However, the demented raptor rolled into a white ball and suddenly charged at Blaziken, performing U-Turn. When it was back to normal, it used Aerial Ace to knock out Blaziken. Finally, Roost was used once more to alleviate itself of the damages, and Staraptor positioned itself in the skies again, only to be met by Drifblim with an evil look on its face.

"Now, Drifblim, use Explosion!"


	4. An Unknown

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon and the entire Tenla PokeDex, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks and abilities, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**An Unknown **

A black van a gold H with the vertical line fire-shaped and curved embedded into its right side dashed through the dusty road that was leading it straight into the backcountry entrance to Zumi Town. Driving this ominous van was a shady character, his uniform consisting of a black shirt, an unzipped trench coat, black leather pants, and sunglasses. His head was covered in a black scarf, most likely to obscure his identity. The same emblem that was on his van was on his trench coat.

"Status report." A seemingly female voice asked from a communicator where located on the character's person. "I'm approaching the Pokemon Lab that houses Professor Xavier Ironwood Kagu." He responded. "Excellent," the voice replied but then said seriously, "Now listen here...it's bad enough we had to release that Fearow into town to occupy whoever is meddling in our business affairs. So, you better not fail in capturing Professor Kagu. Your commander wouldn't be anymore pleased with you, and I'm sure you want your former rank back before someone else takes it."

Closing his eyes behind the black shades, the driver of the van hissed in response, "You don't need to remind me, _ma'am_," He added extra emphasis to the "ma'am" to express his scorn to the higher-up he was speaking to, "I will do my best. Over and out." With that, the character ended the transmission. Good timing, too, seeing as he was approaching the white laboratory. With a small grin, he parked his dark-colored van, exited it, and started to walk into the scientific establishment.

"Good, Noctowl, Swellow, and Pidgeot have calmed down to their regular states." Prof. Kagu said smilingly as the bird Pokemon chirped calmly, apparently back to their normal selves. Because the door was demolished, the lavender-haired male had no way to know that an intruder was stepping into his domain.

"Professor Xavier Ironwood Kagu, my commander wants to have a word with you."

* * *

Staraptor's eyes shrank, and before it could fly away, Drifblim suddenly detonated. Both Staraptor and Drifblim suffered from the explosion as they descended from the sky. Ian held out his Pokeball and recalled Drifblim while Staraptor fell hard on the concrete. May exhaled in relief as Brock and Misty returned their own Pokemon too. "Thank goodness that's over." Misty sighed in relief as well. "Yeah…" May said but then something stirred in her mind, "Wait, Brock, Misty, if you two are here than Ash is here as well?"

"Yep." Misty answered, "Oh! Speaking of Ash, he's with Aaron fighting off a Fearow."

May's eyes lit up at the mention of the brunette strategist's name, "Aaron's here too?"

"He's here too but we need to back into town." Brock said. "But first, how about we take this god damn back to the lab?" Ian said sounding more like a demand than a suggestion. "Yeah, he's right, we'll follow you." Max, May's younger brother, stated.

Ash and Aaron ran their way back through the partially destroyed town and back to the ferry. They arrived only to see everything was calmed and Ian, Brock, and Misty were nowhere to be found. "Where are they?" Aaron wondered aloud, looking around the vicinity. "Where's the Staraptor?" Ash asked the more important question. "Is it possible that they defeated it and went back to Professor Kagu's lab?" Aaron wondered again.

Then, the two hat-wearing males heard police sirens and saw Officer Jenny on her police motorcycle. "Officer Jenny!" The boys exclaimed. "Hey, you two." The aquamarine-haired lady greeted. "Are you here to investigate on the what happened?" Ash inquired. "Yes, do you two know what happened?" She responded.

Aaron began to explain everything, "Professor Kagu sent me, Ash, Brock, Misty, and Ian to retrieve a Staraptor, Swellow, Noctowl, and Pidgeot. He said that they went berserk and are responsible for most of the damages visible. We sent back Swellow, Noctowl, and Pidgeot. We don't know if the others pacified the Staraptor but we were just about to go back to the lab."

Jenny took in the explanation thoroughly before saying, "I see. Then we need to head back ASAP." The three then went back to the Pokemon Lab on the outskirts of town.

Meanwhile, Misty, Brock, May, Max and Ian (the latter hauling the fainted bird), arrived at the Pokemon Lab. What was unusual was that a black van was near the entrance. "Was that there when you and Ash got here"" Brock questioned Misty, gazing at the obsidian vehicle uneasily. "No, it wasn't." She replied, just as vexed as her dark-skinned friend.

Cries of help and struggling were suddenly heard. The black-clad operative appeared out of the entrance, restraining Professor Kagu with relative ease. _"I thought people in glasses were suppose to be weak." _the mysterious man grumbled mentally. Apparently, Prof. Kagu was a handful and took some time to restrain. "What are you doing with Professor Kagu?" Ian growled authoritatively; everyone else glared vehemently. The operative groaned, "Great, a bunch of meddlesome adolescents to throw me off track." He took out two pokeballs and threw them. From the white light, a Gallade and Dunsparce materialized.

Ian groaned as he got out another Pokeball but Misty stopped him, "Ian, we got this. You take the Staraptor inside."

"Is that really necessary?" Ian objected, "Can't I just leave it here because I want a piece of him too."

"Just do it!"

Ian sighed and murmured something under his breath before carefully around the perimeter of the soon-to-be battlefield and going inside to give the Staraptor to his Professor Kagu's assistants. Misty, Brock, and May released their Pokemon; Staryu, Glaceon and Sudowoodo respectively were those Pokemon.

"This is going to waste my time but if it's inevitable…" The shady character said then gave out an order, "Gallade, Ice Punch on Sudowoodo. Dunsparce, Thunderbolt on Staryu."

"Dodge it!" The owners of the two pokemon exclaimed in command.

Gallade charged at Sudowoodo with its fist glowing light blue, but the Imitation Pokemon dodged it so that Gallade punched the ground instead. Dunsparce unleashed a stream of lightning at Staryu, but missed its target. May noticed that the mysterious crook was trying to drag Professor Kagu to the black van as his pokemon distracted the others. Even when the 21-year-old man had his hands and feet tried together, he still caused strife for the shady character.

May acted quickly and shouted, "Glaceon, use Shadow Ball on that van." The icy canine didn't hesitate and fired a black ball of darkness towards the vehicle. The automobile exploded instantaneously. Now the shady character was definitely infuriated; he turned to death glare May and Glaceon, "You really should have done that." He tried to sound calm but he was boiling mad. He got another Pokeball, threw it out, and a Charizard came out.

"Charizard, Fire Blast on Glaceon. Dunsparce, use Thunderbolt again on Staryu." Charizard spat out a human-shaped inferno from its mouth and it rocketed towards Glaceon, who dodged it fluently. Ian finally emerged from the Lab's entrance only to be greeted with the same Fire Blast. He immediately ducked and the Fire Blast barely missed him, scorching and shattering some of glass around the entrance. "Hey, what the hell, man?" Ian screamed in irritation. He looked menacingly at the sinister villain as his Charizard was the only Fire-type around. _"Son of a…"_ Ian mentally hissed, assuming Charizard was inadvertently responsible for almost dry-frying him.

He threw out another Pokeball and a purple witch-like Pokemon came out. While this happened, Staryu was struck by Thunderbolt and fainted. Misty had no choice but to recall Staryu into its Pokeball. Sudowoodo lunged at Gallade leaving a golden blur behind it. performing Double-Edge. It connected but barely did anything at all. _"That Gallade has a lot of defense." _Brock contemplated. By this time, Ash, Aaron, and Officer Jenny reached the lab. Brock's Sudowoodo lost and Ian's Mismagius and May's Glaceon were trying to hold their own against Charizard, Gallade, and Dunsparce.

The recently arrived trio wasted no time releasing their Pokemon. Ash's newly captured Fearow materialized from the white light of the Pokeball, Aaron released the only Pokemon he had in good condition, Lucario, and Officer Jenny released her partner, Arcanine. The villain groaned in annoyance, _"More nuisances…" _

As per their trainer's command, Lucario had used Bullet Punch on Gallade, Fearow used Giga Impact on Dunsparce, and Arcanine used Hidden Power on Charizard. _"How did he manage to capture that Fearow? Impressive, to say the least." _The operative thought, eyeing the Pride of Pallet Town behind those navy blue sunglass that concealed his eyes.

"Dunsparce, use Roost. Gallade, Thunder Wave. Charizard, Rock Smash." Dunsparce calmed itself and then glowed a faint white. Gallade produced electricity throughout its body and sent it out. Charizard picked up a large rock from underground and smashed with its head, sending spikes of stone at its targets. Fearow, Arcanine, and Lucario easily evaded the attacks from Gallade and Charizard.

By this time, Brock and Misty sent out Toxicroak and Corsola. Now, Charizard, Gallade, and Dunsparce were outnumbered 7-to-3. _"Outnumbered. Man, the commander is going to have a fit." _The shady character thought forebodingly.

"Fearow, Hyper Beam!"

"Dunsparce, Fire Blast!"

The large sparrow fired a yellow-orange beam while the yellow and blue worm fired a human-shaped inferno. Both attacks collided and cancelled each other out in shower of red and gold sparks.

"Lucario, Bullet Punch!"

"Shadow Sneak, Gallade!"

Lucario dashed leaving a dim silver blurred behind him while Gallade extended its shadow and moved at the same speeds. Both priority moves collided, and the Aura Pokemon and Psychic-Fighting creature were damaged in the process. Shadow Sneak made a huge impact on Lucario but its will to continue battling was not wavered. Gallade, however, appeared as if it was on the verge passing out. The shady character growled as shouted another to all three of his Pokemon, "Shadow Sneak one more time! Ice Beam and Blast Burn!"

"Glaceon, use Ice Shard!"

"Mismagius, use Perish Song!"

Surprisingly, Glaceon and Mismagius were able to dodge all three fatal maneuvers. Glaceon discharged icy harpoons from its mouth that were aimed at all three opposing pokemon. Gallade could not avoid attacks any longer, Dunsparce was too clumsy to even move, and Charizard was too occupied with Mismagius to notice. The barrage of shards somehow made an ice prison, trapping Gallade and Dunsparce.

The villain realized that Gallade and Dunsparce were unable to fight any longer, so he recalled them into their Pokeballs; the icy prison shattered once their prisoners were recalled. "Charizard! Give 'em your best Blast Burn!" Charizard didn't respond. A purple aura was on Charizard and it fell over with swirls of discontinuity in its eyes. _"Damn Perish Song." _He mentally swore and then suddenly removed a small item from his pocket, "You people were lucky this time, but you won't be next time." The male thug threw down the object and it exploded.

Irritating, plentiful black smoke suddenly enveloped everyone and their surroundings. The smoke suffocatingly entered the group's lungs, prompting them to cover their mouths and cough constantly. Their eyes also were aggravated so Ash and company were also forced to shield their sensitive optic organs with their eyelids. Because of that, no one saw the operative making a soundless escape.


	5. Heading Out

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Heading Out**

"Fearow…," Ash said but then paused to cough, "use Whirlwind to blow away the smoke." Fearow obliged and flapped its mighty wings. Pretty soon, the smoke had dispersed into oblivion. They immediately looked around for the shady character, but he was gone. Thankfully, Professor Kagu was still around and not taken like the villain originally was attempting.

"Professor, are you OK?" Brock said as he rushed over to untie the young scientist; the others followed suit. "Yes, I'm fine," Prof. Kagu replied brushing off his white lab coat, "At least you stopped him from dragging me to who-knows-where."

"What did he want?" Aaron interrogated while staring at the destroyed vehicle the villain could've escaped in. "I'm not really sure, but he said something about…" the professor stopped mid-sentence, lost in his own train of thoughts. "What?" Everyone questioned. Professor Kagu left his thoughts to give an answer, but he heard whimpering inside the demolished lab before he could answer. "The Pokemon." The lavender-haired professional whispered anxiously and suddenly hurried inside.

"Well, I'd better leave," Officer Jenny announced, "I have to go report this." The police lady recalled Arcanine back into its Pokeball and rode away in her motorcycle. The trainers waved goodbye and finally went inside the lab after Professor Kagu.. When they stepped inside, the place looked even more wrecked than the last time it was seen. "This place looks awful!" Misty commented. "Bet'cha that shady character contributed to this." Ian said scornfully. Through the widely ajar, jammed automatic door at the back of the room came Professor Kagu. He had 3 strange Pokemon in his arms that the crew had never seen before.

The one on the right looked a forest green Torchick. Its eyes are black and the leaves that were around its neck formed a mane. A maple leaf is at the top of its head, and has one leg with sharp talons. The one in the middle resembled a Finneon except it is a complete sea blue and has a light cerulean outline. It has grey eyes and shark fins. The one on the left resembles a small lizard with smooth, red, scale-free skin and has light red eyes.

"Whoa, those Pokemon look cool!" Ash shouted in amazement. "And cute!" May exclaimed afterwards.

"I'm glad you like them." Prof. Kagu said warmheartedly. His assistants propped up a table and the professor placed the three starter Pokemon on it, "These are the Tenla starter pokemon. If anyone is interested, you are allowed to choose between...Bochick, a grass pokemon." The Grass-type pokemon peeped its name. "Transpy, a water pokemon." The Water-type pokemon softly chimed its name. "And Gouzatile, a fire pokemon." The Fire-type pokemon hissed its name.

"So, anybody decided on anything?"

"I know I have." Ash said as he went to pick up Gouzatile. "I choose you, Gouzatile." The red reptile had a happy look on his face. "Nice choice, Ash." Prof. Kagu commented as he handed the raven-haired male the Fire-type's Pokeball.

"And I'll choose this cute little fella." Misty said as she picked up Transpy.

The professor promptly handed her the Water-type's Pokeball. "Anyone else?" Xavier surveyed, glancing at the remaining trainers.

"Not interested." Ian responded.

"I don't normally choose starter Pokemon." Aaron replied.

"Bochick kinda reminds of Torchick and he was a handful." May stated.

"Then I guess its settled." Brock announced.

"Um, am I here at a bad time?" A feminine voice asked. Everyone turned to see a blue-haired female with a white cap with Sinnoh's Pokeball symbol, which was colored navy blue. She had on a navy blue vest, a white undershirt, a white skirt that stopped just above her knees, and navy blue boots.

"Dawn?" Ash said in shock. "Ash!" Dawn exclaimed in surprised and then saw the others, "and everyone else!"

"Well, now the gang's all here." Ian declared with semi-wholehearted tone. "Well, I never expected to see everybody here in the Tenla Region." Dawn said as she rushed and accompanied her long-lost gang of pals.

Xavier only gawked at the conversing friends,_ "Surrounded by all your friends…I certainly envy these kids." _

Dawn then noticed the Bochick on the table. "Aw, how cute." She commented she went over to the table and picked it up.

"I see your interested in Bochick," Xavier inquired, "Would you like to own him?"

"Sure I would!" Dawn responded. Bochick chirped happily while Xavier handed Dawn the Grass-type's Pokeball.

"Now that the entire starter Pokemon selected, we can move on. Everything is basically self-explanatory, so…" More of his assistants came in with a briefcase. Xavier opened the briefcase to reveal four Pokedexes. All four of them had different colors; red, purple, grey, and blue - or rather, different hues. "These are the Pokedexes you will use for the Tenla Region. There's a good amount of newly discovered, Tenla-native Pokemon around. So, you'll see them and other Pokemon that have already been discovered." He explained.

Ash went over to pick the red Tenla PokeDex and examined it. Rectangular in shape and mechanical in appearance, it was probably the thinnest of the PokeDexes he ever used. Everyone gazed at the features of the "Pokemon Encyclopedia." A small, thin, black sensor was on top of it. The face of the PokeDex was almost completely covered by a black screen with a small light near the top right corner. Near that light was a small button. Ash curiously pressed it and, from the opposite side, another screen came out.

"The Tenla Region edition of PokeDexes maintain the basic functions of any standard PokeDex," Xavier explained, "However, the special features it contains make it dynamic and more technologically advanced than any other."

"What kind of special features?" Ash inquired curiously.

"Firstly, the main screen is a sensitive, touch-screen. Don't worry about it becoming dusty or fingerprint-ridden; it is encased in a special plastic layer that repels all that. It possesses a multitude of other information-based features. This includes a list of Pokemon you have already met and scanned. Any new Pokemon you analyze will be submitted to list, thus allowing you scroll and study them to your liking. The PokeDex will also recognize the Pokemon you have in your team. Pressing a Pokemon on either the main list or your team list allows you to view more distinct information, such as their moves, abilities, evolutionary chain, and friendship rate."

Ash wanted to test this information. He turned on the PokeDex, followed all the directions, and looked up the information on his Pikachu. A considerable amount of info was seen on Pikachu: its ability, Static, evolving into Raichu via Thunder Stone, and most powerful attack, Volt Tackle, and more. "That's really neat." Ash commented.

"The Tenla edition PokeDex can also act as a small computer, using wireless Wi-Fi compatibility to access the Internet; a music player, able to store and shuffle through music files downloaded onto it; can store backup information such as a Contest Pass or Trainer ID whenever you lose the hard copy; and, naturally, scans Pokemon you just meet for the first time, which is where the extendable screen comes in. Its job is to inform you of said kinds of Pokemon, just like every other PokeDex."

"I might as well take one for myself." Aaron said as he went to pick up the grey PokeDex.

"Do you have enough for other trainers?" Misty asked.

"Of course, I know a lot of trainers are going to want to come to Tenla, so I had to a lot of PokeDexes," Xavier answered, "Go ahead take one." With that, Dawn went to pick the blue Pokedex while May selected the purple. Once that was done, the professor the inquired, "Do any of you happen to have a PokeNav with you?"

"I do, sir." Max replied.

"May I see it?" Max then took out the yellow navigation device and handed it to the lavender-haired scientist. Ian rolled his eyes out of impatience. This was starting to get boring, and he wanted to get out and start the journey already. But when he looked at his friend's expression, he was only speaking for himself when he was ready to go. Xavier had finished downloading something into Max's Pokemon Navigator.

"Max, what I did to your PokeNav is that I've upgraded it with the map of Tenla and its displaying ability. From now on, the PokeNav will show maps in a three-dimensional hologram. That way, everyone can see where they are, and it is easier to pinpoint things. Also, I gave it a wireless frequency so that you can contact the PokeDexes."

"You mean you talk with the PokeDex?" Brock questioned in exclamation.

"To an extent." he responded, "You are able to create messages on the PokeDexes and send them to others within a quarter-mile, or 1320 feet, radius. Max's PokeNav is now able to receive those same messages, it will lack the ability to respond back; it can only read them."

"So, basically, it's like an e-mailing system." Ian stated sounding more like a statement than a question.

"Well, yes." Xavier answered kind of embarrassed that he went off explaining simple things complexly.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Max exclaimed in amazement, "Thank you."

"No problem. That should be everything. This first city you should encounter would be Firguson City. It's quite faraway, so I suggest you stock up or even stay here for today. Firguson City has both a Gym and a Pokemon Contest."

"Just what I wanted to hear." Ash said as he made his to the door, "All right, everyone, let's head on out to Firguson City!" Aaron then walked in front of Ash and held out his hand, "Stop." he calmly demanded. The raven-haired trainer cocked his head to the side and asked in vexation, "What's the matter, Aaron?"

"I know you want to challenge the Gym, but you need to register first."

Realizing that, Ash said resolutely, "Oh, right. Then off to Pokemon Center!"

"However, sad to say, the Pokemon Center's put into disarray by one of the birds."

"AW, COME ON!" Ash groaned loudly. "You're gonna have to stifle your anxiety because, if I'm correct, the next Pokemon Center is in Firguson City." Aaron said with an anime sweat-drop on the back of his head. "Yup, Aaron's right." Max confirmed as he looked into his PokeNav, "The next Pokemon Center is indeed in Firguson City."

Ash had a look of disdain on his face but need not sweat it because he'll get there eventually, "Looks like you and I have to wait, huh, Aaron?" Aaron smiled sheepishly as he honestly announced, "I registered before Swellow destroyed the center." Ash's mood soured even more as he mumbled, "Lucky…"

May then whispered something in Dawn's ear, "How much you wanna bet that Ash is going to go completely off the ball and head straight to Firguson City?" Dawn giggled, inaudibly enough for only her and May to her, "A lot."

May's whisper was loud enough for Ash to hear, unfortunately, "You bet your ass that I'm going to straight to Firguson City!"

"Uh, Ash?" Aaron began to reason with the raven-haired trainer, "It's late in the afternoon, we should at least stay until tomorrow."

"NO!" Aaron cringed at Ash's outburst and his voice starter to get a little softer, "At least stock up on supplies or camping things."

"Excuse me, please!" Ash then passed by Aaron and out of the building. _"O…..K…." _Misty then placed her hand of Aaron's shoulder, "Aaron, you've never been apart of this group," She said, "So, here's lesson number one; try not to stand in between Ash and his ambitions."

"O…K…" He repeated. "The only thing I didn't realize is that he would go crazy." Ian stated scratching his head. "I guess five years of non-competitive battles can do that to some people." Brock wondered aloud. "Emphasis on 'some people'" Max uttered adjusting his glass.

"I've seen Ian crack from the pressure, too." Aaron announced, grinning slightly as he eyed the Lavender Town resident from the corner of his eye.

"I never did crack!"

"It's all right to admit your flaws, Ian. No need to be a liar."

"I'm not lying!"

"Can we please catch up to Ash before he lose him?" Dawn's voice reasoned.

"Oh, right."

Aaron, Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, and Ian finally caught up with Ash. His hastiness sparked an argument between Misty and he, but Aaron immediately quelled it. He finally convinced him to stop at the Pokemon Mart, which was surprisingly still open with little damage. But Ash was still anxious that he would not wait until tomorrow to start his journey. This leads to now…

They were currently at the exit of Zumi Town. They checking on their supplies and sitting down on some park benches. Ash fumbled in his backpack to make sure he had everything he needed. "So, I guess it's time we head on out," Ash declared zipping up his bag and putting it on his back along with his sleeping bag, "So, May, Dawn, and Max? You guys gonna join me, Brock, and Misty?"

May was first to reply, "Of course, though, I didn't plan on meeting you this soon." "Well, since May is going, I guess I have to come so that she doesn't go out of line." Max said, earning him a glare from his older sister. "I would love to come with you, Ash. You'll get to see how much I've improved." Dawn said. "Then I guess it's settled." Ash pronounced standing up from the bench.

"Well, that's rude," a voice calm voice remarked, "you're not going to ask me?" Ash looked in front of him to see Aaron walked towards them with Ian following behind him. "You want to come with us, Aaron?" Ash asked the hat-wearing male's confirmation. "I do, but I don't know about Ian." Ian responded, "I'll go. Hell, you guys probably get all action and I want some of it." Aaron finally asked, "So, is there room for two more?" May jubilantly rejoined, "Sure! The more the merrier!"

"Can we go now?" Ash whined. "Stop whining, Ash. You're not a 10-years-old kid anymore." Ian retorted in aggravation. _"Guess some things never change." _Misty thought. And, thus, the eight-person group made their out of the town. Their journey had begun….

It's been awhile since the gang had left Zumi Town for Firguson City, and they've covered a considerable amount of distance. They were currently walking through a plain. "According, to the PokeNav," Max spoke looking at the screen of the navigator. "There's going to be a 10-mile forest. Then, we should see Firguson City over a hill."

"How long until we get to the forest?" Ash asked. "Should be at least 15-20 minutes." Max answered.

"And Professor Kagu said that the city was faraway." Ian scoffed and rolled his eyes, "this should be quick."

"I hope so," Ash stated looking at the sky, "the sooner we to Firguson City, so sooner I can have my first Gym battle."

"Register first, Ash."

"I get it! OK, Aaron?"

"Just trying to help you out, Ash."

May then changed the subject, "So, how have things been since we last saw each other?" A small silence occurred, meaning they really didn't have much to say. However, Ian spoke first, "Lavender Town's annual celebration for the Spirit Tower was only a month ago."

"What was it about, Ian?" Brock asked curiously. "The anniversary of the Spirit Tower's construction and a tournament using Ghost Pokemon only." Ian answered. "Did you win?" Max inquired. "No!" Ian responded with his voice dripping with irritation, "I lost in the final round."

Aaron chuckled, "You always lose, Ian, right when you're about to win it all."

"You know, one day, you'll be a final round, and right when you slip up, I'll be there to laugh right in your face." Ian promised sneeringly. "No," Aaron objected coolly, "You will be too shocked to do anything, and the moment will have passed by the time you regained your sense. Not that it will happen anytime soon."

"...Whatever, Aaron." With that, Ian fell silent.

Now it was Misty 's turn to speak, "Well, you won't believe what happen at Cerulean City a couple of months ago."

"You're sisters finally learned how to battle?" Aaron guessed jokingly. Misty chuckled, "I wish, but no. Some archeologists found this ancient cave just outside the city."

"What was in it?" Dawn asked. "Not sure, I didn't really pay attention to details." Misty replied. "Well, since I'm now 10-years-old, I'm legally a Pokemon Trainer." Max announced. That interested Ash, "Really? How many Pokemon do you have now? Did you get a starter?"

"So far, three. My starter was Treecko which is actually a Grovyle now, I kept my promise and captured that Ralts we saved before-" Ash interrupted so that he could verify the kind of Ralts Max was talking about, "You mean the one we found on our way to Sootopolis City?

"Yeah, that's the one." Max answered before going on, "Then, Alex from Rinshin Town somehow met up with me and gave me the Shroomish that I befriended in that abandoned mansion. Now it's a Breloom. And finally, I caught a Snorunt." Ash smiled. "Awesome, Max. Pretty soon, Max, you'll be just like me."

"But try not to be _too _much like him, Max." Brock humorously cautioned the youngest of the group. "What's that suppose to mean, Brock?" Ash interrogated the Pokemon Breeder, shifting a look toward him.

"Oh, nothing, Ash."

Max chuckled, "I get what you mean, Brock." Ash raised a skeptical eyebrow but did not impose any further.

Dawn was next to say something, "Not a lot of things have happened in Sinnoh. But what I've mostly been doing is traveling with Kenny like we agreed to do. So, most of the time, I've been working on my combinations and getting lots better."

"Just make sure you can get to the final round this time, Dawn."

"Ian, you just make sure that you even make it to the Grand Festival."

Aaron burst in a small laughter. "Yeah, that's a real confidence-booster, Dawn." Ian remarked sarcastically with a flat look on his face. "Your welcome, Ian." Aaron then said after squashing his laughter completely, "Y'know, she has a point, Ian. You do lose a lot."

"I do _not _lose a lot! And I will make the Grand Festival!"

"Only to lose again." Aaron smart-mouthed. Ian growled, "You're going lost one of these days, too, Aaron."

"Probably will. At least I can acknowledge the fact that I can lose anytime." Ian stopped arguing, knowing that Aaron's just going to make a more smarter comeback. "What about you, Ash?" May inquired. "I haven't done nothing much but train. Things in Kanto have been real quiet."

"That's so true, Ash." Brock agreed, "Dad says not a lot of challengers have appeared in Pewter City."

"Come to think of it, not a lot of people have come to Cerulean City Gym either."

"Same thing with the Petalburg Gym." Max said, "Perhaps everybody was waiting for a new region to come and Tenla appeared to answer their prayers." Aaron stated. "That sounds just about right." The blue-haired Twinleaf Town resident then asked, "So, what about you, Aaron?"

"I grew up." He plainly replied. May spoke up, obviously curious herself, "What happened since we last met?"

"Seriously, I grew up." Aaron repeated logically, leaving May and Dawn dissatisfied. The male brunette chuckled, "Just joking, nothing has happened in Metropolis Town or the Orre region." (A/N: Metropolis Town is located just outside the Orre region)

"Hey, look, we're already at the forest." Ian suddenly pointed out, causing everyone to stop and look. They were indeed facing the entrance of the ten-mile forest Max previously mentioned. "It's been twenty minutes already?" Brock wondered, a little bit shocked. "Who knew a conversation could kill time so quickly?" Ash said, "The last obstacle in our way before we arrive at Firguson City."

The raven-haired male began to walk forward until a creaking noise sounded. "What was that?" May asked. "I don't know." Ash answered. "I hope that's not ominous in any way." Ian said. The ground then collapsed into pitfall, swallowing everyone into the deep but spacious pit. "IT'S OMINOUS!" Ian screamed out as he hit the floor of the pitfall along with everyone else. "What kind of jackass puts a pitfall on a pathway?" Aaron stated rubbing his forehead, "Someone could've broke something."

"My back is going to be broken if everyone doesn't stand up," Ian uttered tapping his finger on the dirt floor. Yes, he was the fall guy, "So, please stand up!" Complying to Ian's demand, Ash and company adjusted themselves so that everyone would be standing up. "As for your question, Aaron," Dawn spoke, "I have three in mind." Evil laughing was heard and three shadows appeared above the hole.

"Prepare for trouble."

"Make it double-"

"Jeez, you three called yourself "professionals", this is a highly dangerous tactic!" Aaron reprimanded spitefully, interrupting the evil trio's motto. "Has that ever stopped them before?" Misty sarcastically asked while rolling her eyes. "Are you twerps finished babbling?" Bellowed an extremely annoyed Jessie, "Now pipe down so we can resume our motto!"

"Nobody wants to hear your motto!" Dawn exclaimed in objection. "Too bad!" Meowth rudely uttered. Ash sighed. Team Rocket's constant antics aggravated him and his friends to no ends, who are apparently arguing with them. "Pikachu? You mind doing us a favor?" "Pika." The yellow mouse jumped off his partner's shoulder and used Thunderbolt. "I thought dis would happen." Meowth declared as he brought out a contraption: an extendable gloved hand. The electricity was blocked by the rubber material on it, and the pure Electric-type was caught on its grip.

"Pikachu! Hey, let him go!" Ash demanded. "You shoulda let us finish our motto." Meowth sneered as the three ditzy villains made their way towards their Meowth balloon. "Come back here!" Ash then attempted climb up the dirt wall, but fell back down. Aaron quickly acted and tried to scale the dirt wall. He successfully made it and when Ash tried once more, he extended his hand and helped Ash make it out. "Ash, you go ahead after Team Rocket, we'll catch up to you eventually." Aaron instructed as he helped Misty out of the pit. "OK." "Be careful." With that, Ash left to pursue Team Rocket's balloon.

"PIKA!" The yellow mouse shouted as he continued to shock his way out of a capsule. No avail. "You should by now, Pikachu, that we're Thunderbolt-proof." Jessie said waving her finger. The Meowth balloon was currently hovering over the middle of the forest, trying to get away from the gang as soon as possible and get Pikachu back to Giovanni. Speaking of the Team Rocket boss, "I just remembered something." James announced. "What would dat be?"

"We forgot to call the boss and let him that we got to Tenla."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LET US KNOW BEFORE?" Jessie bellowed grabbing James by the collar of his uniform. "We were busy trying to get Pikachu!" James answered cowering in fear and his voice quivering. "Oh, right." Jessie realized letting go of James's shirt. "Get back here, Team Rocket!" A voice demanded strictly in the distance. The Team Rocket trio looked down to see Ash running after the Meowth. "As expected from a twerp." Jessie sighed as she only watched as Ash continued to run. "He'll probably get tired of chasing us," James stated, "Besides, he doesn't even have any other Pokemon and his friends don't seem to be around either."

"Now, I'm really angry, Team Rocket." Ash got out a Pokeball, enlarged it, and threw it, "Go, Fearow!" The large brown bird appeared out of the Pokeball and squawked. "Go up to the balloon and grab Pikachu." Fearow flew up to the basket hauling Team Rocket, scaring them greatly. Using its talons, it grabbed the machine imprisoning Pikachu and flew back down to Ash. The raven-haired then released his long-time buddy from the contraption. "You OK, Pikachu?" He asked in concern.

"Pika."

"Thank God." Ash whispered happily and then look at his Fearow, "Fearow, use Hyper Beam on them." Fearow cawed and turned to charge energy in its beak, taking aim at Team Rocket. "Let's get outta here, 'fore dat Pikachu sends us flyin'." Meowth suggested worriedly. "Agreed." Jessie and James said simultaneously. "Wobbuffet!" "Mime mime."

Too little, too late. Fearow fired a ferocious Hyper Beam at the balloon and it exploded. "Team Rocket's blasting off-" Before they finish the routine of their defeat, they landed into another part of the forest. "Finally, it's over." Ash held out Fearow's Pokeball and a red beam recalled it back into the sphere. As he put away Fearow, he realized that he was inside an unknown part of the forest, away from his friends and having absolutely no knowledge of the surroundings. "Aw, man! I'M LOST!"

**Author Notes (Edit: 5/15/10)**

I took me a while to realize I hadn't given the official PokeDex descriptions of the Tenla starter Pokemon revealed in this chapter , so today I'm placing the "chart" for them in this A/N.

**Transpy **("**trans**lucent" and "gup**py**")

Type: Water

Species: Translucent Pokemon

Ability: Torrent

Text: Nicknamed "The Nightlight of the Sea". A school of Transpy can create an aurora in the ocean.

**Bochick **("**bo**tony" and "chick")

Type: Grass

Species: Chick Pokemon

Ability: Overgrow

Text: Bochick lives in areas of forestry until evolution or a valid reason to leave comes up.

**Gouzatile **("gouza, meaning hellfire" and "rep**tile**")

Type: Fire

Species: Lizard Pokemon

Ability: Blaze

Text: Gouzatile lives in the desert where it thrives on the extreme heat to unleash deadly infernos.


	6. Forest or Foes?

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Forest or Foes? **

"Lost, lost, lost!" Ash bellowed maniacally, "I can handle being lost when I'm not in a hurry. Precious seconds are slowly leaving my grasp till all Pokemon League slots are filled. How am I going to beat Gary, or any other of my rivals, if I can't even enter?"

Obviously, Ash was infuriated to the max for three reasons:

1) The abovementioned problem.

2) He had no knowledge of where he was in the forest.

And 3) His friends were nowhere to be found and he doesn't even know anything about this forest.

Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, has been walking on lush, green grass that was in between tall trees for who-knows-when ever since his scuffle with Team Rocket. Obviously, he wasn't even on the correct pathway for the forest.

"I thought Max said this forest was only 10-miles long." Ash said. "Pika…(Yeah...)" Pikachu squeaked meekly.

"Doyubi!" A feminine voice called, catching Ash and Pikachu's attention. They began to trace the origin of the calls. Looking into some bushes, they saw a female. She looked and sounded mature, so Ash guessed that her age was 16-18. She had magenta-colored hair and sunshine yellow eyes. She wore an apricot and light rose blouse and a rose skirt. She had a look of concern and worry on her face.

"Doyubi!" She called out once more. "Doyubi?" Ash repeated as he took out his Pokedex. He searched for a Pokemon under the name 'Doyubi'.

"**Doyubi: The Twin-Tailed Pokemon. Doyubi's appearance is addictively beautiful. It has sharp teeth that can tear apart iron and is not afraid to use them when hunting prey."**

The image of the Pokedex's screen displayed a dog-like Pokemon with beige fur and silver eyes. It had two thin tails and black claws. What weren't displayed were the sharp teeth the Pokedex mentioned.

"Whoa, it really is beautiful." Ash commented quietly.

The raven-haired boy shifted but the cramped bushes made him move involuntarily. Thus, he fell making the leaves rustle and twigs crack. "Doyubi, is that you?" The young lady responded, shooting her head toward the direction of the sounds.

Ash stood up, his presence crushing the girl's high hopes. "Oh, it's a human." She stated crestfallenly. "Um, hi." Ash said stepping out the shrubbery and onto the dirt trail, "My name's Ash." The raven-haired trainer introduced.

"I'm Yoshino." The magenta-haired girl replied. She then asked, "Um, have you happened to see a Pokemon called a Doyubi. It looks-"

"I looked it up on my Pokedex," Ash interrupted in order to answer her question and prevent wasted breaths, "No, I haven't, but it's a really beautiful Pokemon."

Yoshino clapped her hands together and said dreamily, "Isn't it?" Ash then inquired, "Hey, have you seen some other humans around here? We got lost trying to get to Firguson City."

"No."

"So, how'd you get lost in the first place?"

Yoshino then began to explain everything, "Doyubi and I came here in the forest practicing for the Contest. Unfortunately, we forgot about the problem in this forest." Ash and Pikachu became puzzled, "What problem?" "The trail that leads people straight to Firguson City is actually a divider between two feuding Pokemon groups. The forest is 30-miles wide, so that means 15 miles of this forest belongs to the Pokemon groups."

"_Maybe this won't be as quick wanted it to be." _Ash thought, but paid attention when he heard Yoshino's voice again, "Anyway, they saw us and immediately attacked us. After it was over, Doyubi and I got separated and I'm looking for him now."

"I can help you look for him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but give me a second." Ash took his Pokedex out of his pocket again. _"Professor Kagu said that I can communicate with the others using an e-mailing system." _Ash fidgeted with device and finally found the e-mail option, and, after a bunch of typing via dial, he finished the letter and sent it.

"What were you doing?" Yoshino questioned curiously. "I used my Pokedex to contact my friends and told them the stuff you told me." Ash answered stowing away the device, "Now they'll be aware of what's going on."

"However, the reception in this forest is really bad, but it should reach your friends in about 15 minutes."

"Better late than never. Shall we get going?"

"OK, but don't release any Pokemon because that's like taboo signal for them to attack, and if they see that Pikachu of yours, we'll be in real trouble." Yoshino uttered one last bit of info. "I'll take my chases, but it will be difficult to search for them since I can't release my Fearow." Ash responded as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, "Let's go." "Right." The two newly acquainted friends then began the search.

* * *

Repeated callings of Ash's rang through the forest. They belonged to his friends. They were lost just like he is, but that was the last thing on their minds…just about. "Geez, Max," Ian groused, "I thought you said this forest was only 10 miles."

"10-miles long." Max replied looking at his PokeNav, "its 30-miles wide."

"Guess things won't be going too fast for us." Ian silently stated, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Aaron, you and Ash really should've waited until you got us out to pursue Team Rocket." Misty said in reprimand. Aaron, not turning around to face Misty, admitted in response, "You're right, I should've. I never assessed all the properties of this forest. But, I doubt that Ash would wait to save Pikachu."

Aaron finally turned around to face the whole group, "What we need to do now is to try and locate Ash."

"I would use Drifblim, Aaron," Ian uttered, "but it's kinda windy out here and Drifblim hates breezes." As if on cue, a breeze passed through making loose clothing flow slightly. Aaron pulled one of his Pokeballs, but didn't open it. "I just hope that Ash is using Fearow to track us; otherwise, this will be very difficult." Brock stated.

"I could use Magnezone, but it can't float very high like a Flying-type could." Aaron pointed out trying to think of a plausible option. "It might have to do, Aaron, we have no other option." Dawn responded. Aaron shrugged his shoulder, "Hmm, you're right." He threw Magnezone's Pokeball in the air and the fully evolved Magnet Pokemon appeared out of the white light.

"Magnezone, hover as high you can to locate Ash and Pikachu." Aaron instructed. Magnezone nodded and floated above the trees. Everyone began to follow the Steel/Electric Pokemon.

* * *

Groans of pain rang throughout an area of the forest. Smoke slightly and vaguely arose into the clear blue sky. A deflated Meowth hot-air balloon hung from the trees. Team Rocket was on the ground aching from their recent defeat at the hands of Ash's Fearow. Jessie then roared out of aggravation, "Why is it that when we always get the edge, the twerps always have something new?"

"Maybe it's because your plans aren't elaborate enough." Meowth retorted sounding more like he was stating the truth. "You're not elaborate enough!" Jessie indignantly exclaimed scaring the cat Pokemon and then went into a huff. James just simply sighed not wanting to deal with his female counterpart's unnecessary rage. Something caught his attention, and it scared him. A low, snarling sounded. "What was that?" Jessie cautiously questioned. "I don't like the sound of that." Meowth commented becoming alarmed. A bunch of Pokemon circled around Team Rocket and the balloon. "Come to think of it, I don't like the looks of it either!" Meowth cowered with his buddies in a huddle. There were many Pokemon, most notably consisting of were Bellsprouts, Ekans, and Koffing.

They were obviously very upset that the balloon crash disturbed their habitat. However, three screeches, in a different, calmer pitch, made all the once-growling Pokemon stop in obligation. Three Pokemon came out of the trees and bushes. One was a giant, purple cobra-like Pokemon with a strange face on its hood. Another was a levitating, purple, meteorite-like Pokemon with two heads, a smaller one and a large one. The last one a yellow and green plant Pokemon with a bell-shaped body and a large leaf covering its mouth. It had two sharp leaves acting as arms.

"Could those be?" James wondered in disbelief. "Can't be." Jessie denied, but wasn't sure for herself. The three pokemon advanced towards Team Rocket, almost like they haven't seen them for years. The Arbok wrapped itself Jessie lovingly. "I remember this Wrap attack! My darling Arbok was returned to me!" Jessie returned the hug. "My sweet Victreebel is back!" James exclaimed into sobs as Victreebel bit his out of compassion. "Looks like da old crew is back!" Meowth yipped happily.

"Um, Victreebel?" James asked. Victreebel removed James from its mouth as a sign that it got his attention, "What happened to your love mate?" Victreebel's drooped into misery. It responded with a low, sad shriek. "Translation, please?" Jessie requested. "Victreebel says that this trainer captured her."

"To be separated from your loved one, how sad." Jessie said in a hushed tone becoming moody.

In honor for James's Victreebel's lost loved one, Team Rock and the surrounding pokemon let silence linger amongst them.

* * *

Aaron sighed out of exasperation, "This isn't getting us anywhere." He stopped running and so did everyone else. Magnezone stopped proceeding forward as well. "Unfortunately, you're right, Aaron." Brock concurred, "Magnezone's levitation is too low, and I can also see the trees getting higher. We won't be able to locate Ash and this rate."

"This would go so much faster if it wasn't so damn windy!" Ian stated, his voice rising with each word. "We are going to be _so _late to sign up." Dawn groused. "And if we _don't, _all the spots are going to be filled." May complained in agreement. "That's the part that's got me worried." Aaron said, "I only wonder how Ash is going to react if we don't make it."

"Please don't make we wonder, Aaron." Brock pleaded, "I'm already starting to get a headache thinking about it."

Max's PokeNav beeped, "Something's going on with my PokeNav." He announced as took it out. Everyone besides Aaron, who was keeping watch, went behind Max to observe the occurrence. "It's a message," Max declared, "from Ash!"

"Ash?" Everyone responded in unison out of incredulity. The message read:

_Max, this is Ash. Pikachu and I are just fine. Listen, I met a girl that's a resident from Firguson City in this forest that could me something you guys should know. This forest is home to two quarreling groups of Pokemon. If you don't want to get ambushed, don't release any Pokemon or, at least, to keep them hidden. Also, if you see this Pokemon called a 'Doyubi', let me know. The girl's name is Yoshino, and she and Doyubi got separated because of the pokemon. Be careful._

"Two feuding groups?" Misty repeated absentmindedly. Her main concern was everyone's safety, including Ash's. "Aaron, tell Magnezone to come back." Brock hollered in demand, "Ash said some Pokemon will immediately attack us if they it." "Is that so?" Aaron replied. Not wanting to put his long-time companion at risk, he promptly called out to it, "Come back, Magnezone."

"Mag." The Magnet Area Pokemon slowly began its descent to Aaron. "Aaron," Ian stated looking toward the hat-wearing brunette, "Ash also mentioned that a Pokemon called a Doyubi is lost out here, and it belongs to someone he just met."

"Somebody look it up on the Pokedex." Aaron ordered as got a Pokeball. Dawn proceeded to get out her blue Pokedex to look up. Out of nowhere, Aaron sensed something urgent and dangerous. He suddenly shouted a command, "Magnezone, dodge!" Magnezone did just that, and a Hyper Beam whizzed by.

"Looks like they spotted us." May pointed out, her tone and expression similar to someone witnessing the end of the world.

Out of the bushes, a couple of shadowy figures jumped out and began their onslaught.


	7. Old Friends, New Pokemon

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Old Fiends, New Pokemon**

The shadowy figures came out and revealed themselves; the group consisted of a Raticate, Shuckle, Houndoom, Gligar, and Machop.

Magnezone floated in front of Aaron and sparked electricity defensively and threateningly, "Well, here they are." Aaron announced levelheadedly. Raticate, who fired the previous Hyper Beam, discharged another one aimed at Magnezone. The Steel/Electric-type simply used a Hyper Beam of its own. It easily overpowered Raticate's Hyper Beam, disintegrated it, proceeded to go to the attacking group, and exploded upon impact.

"That was easy." Aaron commented. The smoke suddenly cleared out, revealing that Shuckle had used Protect and the green dome blocked Magnezone's Hyper Beam effortlessly. "Spoke too soon." Aaron huffed exasperatedly as the Magnet Area Pokemon readied itself once more.

"Hound!" The Houndoom fired a gush of flames toward Magnezone. "Azumarril!" Misty shouted as she threw her Pokeball, "Cover Magnezone with Bubble Beam!" The Aqua Mouse Pokemon came out of its ball and proceeded to fire a rapid stream of bubbles at Flamethrower. Both attacks cancelled each other out immedaitely. Machop rushed forward with his hand in a chopping position (Karate Chop), Gligar flew upward and then glided downward with its wing illuminating (Steel Wing), and Raticate fired another Hyper Beam.

"Sudowoodo," Brock called out while throwing his Pokeball, "uses Brick Break to block Machop's Karate Chop."

"Munchlax," May threw out the Pokeball, "use Tackle to stop Gligar from going any further!"

"Ambipom," Dawn threw out hers, "Use Swift to counter Hyper Beam."

All selected Pokemon appeared out of their respective Pokeball and proceeded to initiate their commands. Sudowoodo charged forward at Machop. Both of their attacks chopped against each other in a tremendous collision. Munchlax, despite its heftiness, jumped up real high toward Gligar; Tackle and Steel Wing collided in mid-air. Ambipom swished both of its tails and golden stars shot out aplenty. The stars swirled together to form a column. Hyper Beam sped right into the modified Swift, causing a radiant explosion of golden sparkles.

"Wow, Dawn," Brock commented after seeing Ambipom's performance, "Your Ambipom seems to have improved due to its training with O!" Dawn gave the aspiring Pokemon Breeder a wink before replying, "Just wait until you see her in action at a Pokemon Contest."

"Head's up, Brock!" Ian alerted. Brock removed his attention away from Dawn and saw Machop attempting to perform Seismic Toss on his Sudowoodo. "Sudowoodo, spin around Machop and use Double Edge." The Imitation Pokemon did a quick spin move around the Superpower Pokemon, avoiding the bear-hug it was attempting, and thrust itself forward, ramming its hard body into Machop's spine.

Raticate ran toward Ambipom with its pointy tail shining as a metallic substance covered it (Iron Tail). "Ambipom, spin and dodge, then use Focus Punch." As Raticate came over and swished its tail to Ambipom, the two-tailed monkey jumped, span around Raticate to avoid Iron Tail, and launched two illuminating fists at the back of Raticate's head.

"Munchlax, dive under Gligar and use Solarbeam!" The Big Eater Pokemon stopped its struggle with Gligar and went under it. Coincidentally, the sun was shining directly at Munchlax in its current position. So, it only took like three seconds to charge before discharging a white, humongous beam at the Ground/Flying-type.

Houndoom growled furiously as gaseous darkness leaked from its mouth. It roared as a black and purple missile was discharged from its mouth. It was speeding straight toward the group. Abruptly, a green dome blocked and stopped the attack cold; a Weavile was responsible for this. "Thank, Ian." Aaron thanked, turning toward the scary teen. "I always got my friends' back." Ian stated. Gligar, clearly infuriated, dashed over to Weavile. While this was happening, Brock asked, "What attack was that?"

"Shadow Reign, it's a Dark-type version of Overheat. It's powerful so watch out." Ian explained unaware of the charging FlyScorpion Pokémon.

Gligar then jabbed its barbed tail into Protect, and it shattered within a millisecond. "Damn it!" Ian exclaimed suddenly catching this. "The one time we let down our guards…," Brock stated glumly, "Because of Gligar's Feint, we don't have absolute protection against any more surprises."

"Not on my watch." Aaron reassured. He took out Magnezone's Pokeball and a red infrared beam recalled the Magnet Area Pokemon back into it. He tossed out a different one, and a burgundy, red ant-like Pokemon came out. Houndoom, eying the new opponent as greater threat, charged forward with its tails shining intensely.

"Scizor, Metal Claw. Grab Iron Tail and then strike." The recently released Scizor's large claws glowed as a metallic substance coated them. As Houndoom flung Iron Tail, Scizor used its left-hand Metal Claw to grab the Iron Tail. Scizor used its right-hand Metal Claw to slash Houndoom's muzzle in an uppercut-like motion.

The dark hound rolled backwards. Its cronies, who were fighting the rest of them, looked back in worry. They dodged the next attack and regrouped themselves a few yards away from our heroes and their respective Pokemon. Houndoom was clearly exhausted; he growled a couple times, giving out commands to the group. Machop put Houndoom over its shoulder, and the gang fled swiftly afterwards.

"Well, that's over with." May stated as she recalled Munchlax back to its Pokeball. Everyone then began to recall all of their respective Pokemon as well. Ian put away Weavile's Pokeball and then asked, "Well, shall we resume our objective of finding Ash?" Everyone nodded and verbally agreed.

Ian then walked forward not knowing that something was sticking out of nearby bushes, "Any suggestion to where we should start first?" After he asked that question, he stepped on the outward object and, within a second, something came out of the bushes. Ian completely froze, rapidly feeling excruciating pain in his left leg. "Hey, Max, send Ash a message." May ordered. "OK." Max obliged getting out his Pokeball, "What should I tell him?"

"What in the WORLD is that on Ian's leg!" Dawn randomly exclaimed. Everyone turned their attention to the new subject. The creature's teeth were sharp, pearly white, and inserted into the skin of Ian's left leg through the pant leg. Its black claws also were injected into Ian's leg. It had beautiful beige fur and two thin tails. "It's a…" Brock tried to answer May's question but himself stumped, "It's a…it's a…What _is _it?" Aaron got his Pokedex.

After the device said all aforementioned information about a 'Doyubi,' Ian yelled hysterically. "YOU MEAN THIS THING CAN RIP MY LEG APART?"

"Calm down, Ian." Misty attempted to calm the wily Ghost Trainer, even though his hysteria was justified; anyone would freak out if they knew they were in a position where a limb could be lost. "DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! I GOT A POKEMON HERE THAT CAN MAKE ME HANDICAP IN A COUPLE OF SECONDS!" He continued to shot as Doyubi growled audibly.

Aaron head this and tried a shot at rationalizing Ian, "Ian..." He mumbled warningly, "That Doyubi's getting a little miffed, you should calm down it takes your leg and sticks it straight up your-"

"I wish it would try that, Aaron!" The Ghost-type coordinator challenged.

"Stand still, Ian," Brock ordered as he squatted to face Doyubi, who is still attached to Ian's leg. "Doyubi, Ian is real sorry for disturbing you. So, could you-" Doyubi came off Ian's leg and tried to slash Brock's face. It missed but it prompted Brock to crawl backwards to create distance. "Doyubi must be a wild Pokemon." Max assumed pushing up his glasses. "You never know, it may belong to someone." Misty said. Ian checked the spot where Doyubi bit him. He was slightly bleeding. "If it belongs to someone, then he or she must be really irresponsible." Ian stated bitterly. Doyubi still had its guard up, and continued to display its teeth defensively.

Dawn assessed the small situation and quickly found a possible solution. "Well, I'm not sure if it belongs to anyone, but we need to take it with us." Dawn said as she stepped toward Doyubi. Aaron cautiously asserted, "Are you sure that's a good idea? It doesn't seem it, Dawn."

"No need to worry, Aaron. Just leave it to me." Dawn said as she squatted down to Doyubi, who took a couple of steps backwards uneasily. "It's all right, Doyubi, we're just here to help you." Dawn reasoned with the Twin-Tail Pokemon.

"Watch out, Dawn." Max alerted, concerned about her bold action, "Doyubi might-"

"Like I said, no need to worry, Max. Doyubi's just confused, we have to let him know that we're not going to hurt him," She responded. Doyubi cautiously backed up mere centimeters, trying to create some space between it and Dawn. The blue-haired coordinator simply extended and started to pet Doyubi's head. The Twin-Tailed Pokemon flinched, but, to everyone's surprise, didn't attempt to rip Dawn's arm off. Doyubi's tenseness faded and closed its mouth. "See, Doyubi?" Dawn stated, "We mean no harm." Apparently, Dawn's magic worked. Doyubi began to smile and yip affectionately. "Nice, job, Dawn." Max commented. "Thanks, Max."

"_Apparently, this thing favors females." _Ian and Brock jealously grumbled in their minds. "I'd better e-mail Ash about this." Max announced as he once again tried to contact Ash.

Unexpectedly, a mechanical tentacle wrapped around Doyubi and pulled it into the sky. Everyone gasped in surprise as they saw a mechanical claw retracted to a hot-air balloon. Even though it had a Wobbufet design rather than a Meowth design , the gang had a pretty good guess. "Oh, what the?" Ian groaned as he turned around to face whatever snatched up Doyubi. He cringed from the pain that Doyubi inflicted on him minutes ago. "Aw, no." Max moaned in annoyance.

"Prepare for-"

"Why do guys always appear at the wrong time?" Ian said interrupting their motto, kneeling down to put less weight on his injury. "Why da you always have at be such a twerp!" Meowth countered back. _"They are _so_ lucky that I don't feel like cracking on them." _Ian thought vehementyl.

* * *

"Find anything?" Yoshino questioned as she ran to Ash. "No, nothing at all." Ash responded. Then, the raven-haired teen's Pokedex beeped. "A message?" He said in wonder. He pulled out the red Pokemon Encyclopedia, opened it, and checked the message. "Yoshino, Max says that they found Doyubi." Ash pronounced. "Really?" The magenta-haired female replied in jubilancy. "Yup."

"_Although, they could've told us where they were, but I probably would get even more lost looking for them." _Pikachu's ears perked up so that meant he sensed danger afoot. The yellow mouse jumped off its trainer's shoulder and sparked electricity in his cheeks. "What's up, Pikachu?" Ash inquired, well aware that a threat is near because of Pikachu's actions. A couple of figures jumped down from a tree. An Ekans, Koffing, Sceptile, Hypno, and Venomoth appeared. "Oh no, they've spotted us!" Yoshino exclaimed in horror. "Looks we may have to fight our way out." Ash declared.

Yoshino then suddenly noticed something concerning the group of forest pokemon,"Wait, Ash!"

"What for?" Ash questioned.

"Look." Doing what she said, Ash looked at the group and they were conversing rather than preparing to strike. "Scept Spect Sceptile? (Hypno, have you found _him _yet?)" Hypno pointed towards a random direction, "Hypno Hypno. (Yes, he's over there.)" Sceptile growled, "Sceptile! (Let's go!)" An agreeing chatter came from his cronies and they subsequently moved out.

"Any clue what they said?" Yoshino asked. "I don't know, but let's follow them." Ash took out Fearow's Pokeball and released it. "Fearow, check and see if you see anything peculiar." Ash commanded. Fearow nodded and flew high in the sky. The first thing it saw was the Wobbufet balloon. Fearow chirped at Ash informatively. "Lead us toward it." Fearow then started to glide toward the balloon. "Let's go." Ash instructed. "Right." The two began to follow Fearow.

Like always, Team Rocket refused to give back their captured prey, sparking a battle. Doyubi was sealed in a cage that couldn't be penetrated even with its powerful teeth. Surprisingly, Team Rocket actually got a little better in their battling skills. They managed to defeat May's Wartortle and Brock's Sudowoodo with only Carnivine and Seviper. However, Misty's Azumarril, Ian's Mismagius, Aaron's Scizor, and Dawn's Buneary have caused some strife for them.

Azumarril used Bubble Beam on Carnivine. Although, it did little damage, Carnivine was softened up for Mismagius which used Shadow Ball to defeat it. Buneary hopped toward Seviper who had its fang gleaming in preparation. The rabbit pokemon Bounced above a Poison Tail and pounded its face with a Dizzy Punch. Before Seviper could react, Scizor rapidly appeared behind it with its claws glowing (Metal Claw). And in another second, Scizor slashed Seviper with its attack and reappeared in front of it. Both Carnivine and Seviper fell down with swirls of discontinuity in their eyes.

"Had enough, Team Rocket?" Misty interrogated cockily. "No, we're just getting started!" Jessie sternly spat back. Aaron sighed out of frustration. Team Rocket's antics really started to bug him and he was only apart of the group for a short time, and he knew Ian and the rest weren't any calmer. "May I finish this up?" Aaron surveyed.

"Sure." (Misty)

"Go ahead." (Brock)

"Be my guest." (May)

"Kill them for all I care about." (Ian)

Aaron then proceeded to give out an order, "Scizor, go up there and get Doyubi and destroy their balloon with Silver Wind."

Scizor nodded in compliance. It sprouted its clear insect wings and jumped real high toward the balloon. But before it could even board the balloon, a burst of flames whizzed toward it. Both Aaron and Scizor caught that, and, at the last second, Scizor shifted its weight downwards and landed on the ground. The burst of flames instead connected on Team Rocket's hot-air balloon. The ditzy trio screamed in panic as their balloon became enflamed.

"Oh, man! Misty!" Brock called out in alarm. Misty was well aware that Doyubi was in danger and thus commanded, "Azumarril, used Water Gun to extinguish the flames!"

"Azu!" The Aqua Mouse pokemon discharged a stream of water at Team Rocket's balloon. Smoke replaced the fire as the flames were extinguished. As soon as the balloon was cooled off, the cause of the fire attack jumped in front of the group; Houndoom and his posse were back for a second round.

"Don't we ever get a freaking break from this?" Dawn complained softly. "Apparently not." Brock sighed. Scizor appeared in front of the group, kneeling down on its left knee with its right arm resting on the knee. "Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Aaron said as Scizor stood back up and prepared itself.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket was recuperating from the inferno. Although their balloon was absolutely scorched, it remained intact and airborne. "Status report…?" Jessie breathed out. "I'm fine." James responded thinking she was talking to him. "Not you! The balloon!" She growled in exclamation. "Surprisingly, da balloon is still in one piece." Meowth stated, "Dat means we can still make our escape with da Doyubi!"

"Let's hurry before-" Too late. A green blur passed by the balloon and sliced it in half, destroying it. An explosion occurred as Team Rocket flew into the sky.

"Why does it always have to be us?" Jesse whined hysterically. " 'Cuz we're da bad guys, Jessie…" Meowth muttered uncaringly. "Well…" James said glumly, "We know the routine."

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The three screamed as they flew into the sky, leaving a white star. The cause of Team Rocket's blasting off? It appeared behind Houdoom's gang. It was the Sceptile and his gang.

Ignoring Scizor for the moment, Houndoom turned around and glared and growled at Sceptile. Apparently, these were the rivaling leaders of their respective posses. The cage that entrapped Doyubi was currently falling from the sky. Misty immediately saw that and yelled, "There's Doyubi!"

"Scizor!" Aaron enjoined. The burgundy Steel/Bug-type jumped into the sky and caught the imprisoned Doyubi. Using its large claws and better strength, it cut open the lock and freed Doyubi. "Arf! (Thanks for saving me!)" Doyubi barked appreciatively. Scizor simply shrugged its shoulders in response.

"SCEPTILE!"

"HOUND!"

An Iron Tail and Leaf Blade met each other powerfully. The blood feud began as the forest pokemon unleashed their attacks. "Should we stop them?" Ian queried as he watched the gangs battle. "Even though I feel it isn't our business to get in theirs, this feud has to stop sooner or later." May said. "Well, why not sooner?" Aaron replied and then commanded, "Scizor, use Silver Wind to get their attention!" Scizor, pushing Doyubi aside, fired a gust of silvery scales from its wings.

The gangs saw this coming and immediately dodged it. "Hound Hound! (What the hell are you doing!)" Houndoom barked madly. "Sceptile Sceptile Scept! (This is none of your business, leave or we'll kill you!)" Sceptile retorted with the same harshness.

Scizor calmly asked, "Scizor Sciz? (For what reason are you fighting?)" Houndoom snarled, "Hound Houndoom. (Too became the more dominant species.)"

"Scizor…Scizor Sciz. (That isn't a reason…There has to be something better.)" Scizor replied, unconvinced. "SCEPILE! (HE JUST TOLD YOU!)" Sceptile exclaimed swiping its arm in the air, "SCEPT SCEPTILE TILE! (IT IS OUR DESTINY TO QUARREL BECAUSE, FROM DAY ONE, WE'VE BEEN FIGHTING!)"

"SCIZOR! (BULLCRAP!)" Scizor snapped, "Scizor! Zor Zor! (There isn't any reason you two should feuding! End it now because foreign people and Pokemon are gonna get hurt because of your selfishness!)"

"Aaron?" Ian asked, "What's Scizor trying to do?" Aaron answered, "Scizor's trying to interrogate the reason why their feuding out of them. And it seems like they don't have an acceptable answer."

" 'Cause there isn't a damn reason why they should be." Misty stated. Houndoom and Sceptile gritted their teeth, clearly outraged by Scizor's interrogation, "HOUND/TILE! (SHUT UP!)" Houndoom fired an Overheat while Sceptile discharged a Solarbeam. Scizor, without even flinching, used Protect. The green dome blocked their most powerful attacks. That result didn't quell their anger. "Houndoom Hound? (Call a temporary truce?)" Houndoom questioned with a rather bittersweet tone. "Tile Sceptile. (Until we kick this Scizor's ass.)" Sceptile retorted concurringly with the same bittersweet tone.

Scizor gazed at the groups in alarm. He then became flabbergasted when they charged simultaneously. "Scizor, Silver Wind!" The Bug/Steel-type again flapped a gust of silvery scales from its wings at the group. Shuckle rolled ahead of the group and used Protect to block it. Venomoth buzzed its wings vigorously and a green shockwave was emitted (Bug Buzz).

"Protect!" Scizor once again made the impervious green dome envelope it. Gligar took lead this time, and it jabbed an alit claw into Protect and it immediately shattered. "Oh, crap. Help me out here guys!" Aaron requested starting to panic a bit. Ian threw out his Pokeballs and Weavile came out. May threw hers out and Blaziken came out. Misty threw hers out and Starmie came out. Dawn threw her Pokeball out and Piplup came out. Brock threw his Pokeball and Forretress came out.

"Guys, make sure whenever Weavile uses Protect stop Gligar from using Feint." Brock cautioned. "If it gets this done faster." Ian said. "Koff…ING!" Koffing discharged greenish globs of sludge from its mouth (Sludge Bomb).

"Starmie, counter that with Water Gun!" Misty ordered. Starmie readied itself to fire the Water Gun; however, Hypno appeared behind it and used a gruesome Headbutt on Starmie's back.

"Blaziken, help out Starmie!" The Fire/Fight-type Pokemon attempted to kick Hypno, but the Psychic Pokemon managed to dodge it. Raticate crawled toward Piplup to initiate a surprise attack. Its fangs glowed and leaped to jam them into Piplip (Super Fang). Dawn immediately caught this and ordered Piplup to dodge. The Penguin Pokemon did dodge it and used Drill Peck. It jammed its beak, spinning like a corkscrew, into Raticate. Machop dashed at Forretress with its hand glowing. Brock commanded it to use Rollout. Forretress spun around extremely quickly and blocked Karate Chop. What Forretress didn't expect was Gligar using Steel Wing to completely stop its momentum, leaving it wide open for a Machop Cross Chop.

Houndoom and Sceptile, side-by-side, sped over to Scizor and Weavile. The two targets stood there, fearlessly waiting for their trainers' command. The leaves on Sceptile's wrists sharpened and illuminated green while Houndoom exhaled out a gust of flames. Aaron ordered Scizor to lay low, and Ian ordered Weavile to use Ice Punch. The attacks headed at each other at high speeds.

Before Sceptile could clash Leaf Blade with Ice Punch, Ian ordered Weavile at the last second to jump and hit it from behind. Weavile, being faster than Sceptile, jumped over Sceptile's head and jabbbed its icy cold fist to Sceptile's back. Scizor just gleamed at Flamethrower as it approached him. Then, suddenly, Aaron commanded Scizor to sidestep and use Metal Claw. Scizor, at breakneck speeds, sidestepped away from the high heat and zipped toward Houndoom with the same amount of speed. Before the Fire/Dark-type dog Pokemon could react, Scizor gave it an uppercut to the muzzle.

At that same point, Piplup blew back Gligar with a Bubble Beam as it tried to hit Blaziken with Aerial Ace. Venomoth got hit by Forretress's Rapid Spin and was slammed into Gligar. The two slid on the ground to a halt with swirls of discontinuity in their eyes. Starmie used Rapid Spin and connected on Machop's chin and then followed up with a Hydro Pump. The Superpower Pokemon was blown back becoming an addition to the pile. Blaziken hit Raticate with a Sky Uppercut, and Scizor brought it back down to earth with a Metal Claw.

Weavile gathered dark energy in his hands and fired a Shadow Ball. Empoleon used a Bubble Beam and it surrounded Shadow Ball to increase power. The Bubble Beam/Shadow Ball combo connected onto Koffing and Hypno and they too were rendered unable to continue to battle. Shuckle was the only one left and continuously used Protect to save its life. Unfortunately for Shuckle, Protect failed after its third attempt and it was left wide open for Scizor's Hyper Beam. Houndoom & Sceptile's posse were, as stated previously, in a pile and unable to battle. Houndoom and Sceptile and were drained of energy from battling Weavile and Scizor and their previous feud. Doyubi was silent and stared in awe from the power and coordination of the Pokemon.

"Are they just about done yet?" Ian asked. "I don't know." Aaron responded and then thought, _"Come to think of it, I don't they'll ever be finished." _Suddenly again, a vine whipped out and grabbed Doyubi and hoisted it into the air again. Once again, the stubborn Team Rocket had another balloon, shaped like a Seviper. Victreebel had used Vine Whip to grab Doyubi and put into the balloon. "How the hell do these guys get these balloons?" Ian asked no in particular, annoyed by that. "Don't ask any of us." Dawn retorted. However, the evil trio wasn't planning on wasting any time. The Seviper balloon immediately began to drift away. "They're leaving!" Misty exclaimed.

"Scizor, shoot down the balloon with Hyper Beam!" Aaron commanded. Scizor gathered energy in its right claw and discharged an orange/yellow beam. "Incoming Hyper Beam!" Meowth yelled in fear. After his shout, Wobbufet popped out of its Pokeball. "Wobu!" The blue blob verbalized and did its trademark salute. "

For once I'm happy to see you," Jessie said and then forcibly pushed Wobbufet on top of the basket and in front of the Hyper Beam, "use Counter!" Wobbufet gained a reddish aura and, when Hyper Beam hit it, Wobbufet was unaffected and the blast shape shifted into a ball. The ball was then shot back toward them at faster speeds. Scizor tensed up slightly. Gligar had temporarily inactivated its use of Protect. "Weavile, use Protect." Ian ordered. The Sharp Claw Pokemon went ahead of everyone else and used Protect to block the redirected Hyper Beam.

Doyubi, who was still wrapped by Victreebel's Vine Whip, saw this and became pissed off. It immediately started to flail in Victreebel's grip. "Calm down, ya mutt!" Meowth demanded, but Doyubi wasn't listening. It bit Victreebel's vine and the Grass/Poison-type shrieked in pain. It loosened its grip allowing Doyubi to free itself. "Hold still and lemme neuter ya!" Meowth yelled as he extracted his claws. Doyubi swished around his tails and hit the Scratch Cat square in the face.

"Hold him down!" James directed as he tried to pounce on Doyubi. The Twin-Tailed Pokemon, being faster than all three, jumped over them, and it bit Jessie's hair in self-defense. Jessie then madly began to flail her long hair around, "I just had my hair done, get off of me!" Doyubi did get off Jessie but not out of compliance, but to get away. It jumped off the balloon and an unknown shadow caught it. It descended down on the ground. It was a Fearow. "Wait…" Aaron said, "Is that the same Fearow-" Before Aaron could finish his question, a voice sounded answering his question.

"I finally found you guys!" Ash and Pikachu popped out of the bushes. "Ash!" The females exclaimed in happiness. "Took you long enough…" Ian said scornfully. "Shut up, Ian." Ash responded. Yoshino appeared behind Ash, and Misty was the first to notice her. "So, you must be Yoshino, right?" Misty said extending her hand, "I'm Misty." "Nice to meet you, Misty." Yoshino greeted warmheartedly shaking Misty's hand. Doyubi jumped down Fearow's back yipping a 'thanks'. It then ran over to Yoshino.

"Doyubi!" She exclaimed happily as let the dog-like pokemon jump into its arms. "I'm so glad I found you!" "Arf!" Meanwhile, while the separated team was reunited, Jessie was mourning because five inches of her hair at the tip was bitten off. "My beautiful hair…." Jessie whined softly. "James, you still got dose earplugs?" Meowth whispered the question. "Thankfully, yes." James responded, knowing that the red-violet-haired female would explode at any second, even after they would blast off.

Jessie then started to fume in anger, "THAT MUTT IS GOING DOWN!" She screamed as she threw out her chose Pokeball. Then, she turned to her teammate, "Well, don't just stand there like a fucking moron! Fight!" "Uh…Okay." James agreed, unenthusiastically sending Victreebel down to battle

Ash saw the two opposing Pokemon descending down to battle. _"Arbok and Victreebel? Are those the same ones?" _He pondered, but shook it off because a battle was about to begin. "So, Team Rocket continues to fight, huh?" Ian stated, this time more enthusiastic to battle. "This shouldn't take long, they're outnumbered." Dawn announced cockily.

"I hope it doesn't." Aaron wished silently. Ash recalled Fearow back into its Pokeball while Pikachu hopped down from its shoulder. Doyubi jumped from Yoshino's arms and got into a battle position. The quarreling pokemon group stepped off to the sides rendered flabbergasted. The already released pokemon readied themselves once again for battle.

"So, new Pokemon, eh?" Aaron smirked, "This is getting interesting."

"Arbok, used Wrap on that Doyubi!" Jessie ordered. The Poison-type snake slithered toward Doyubi head on. "Victreebel, use Sludge Bomb on the rest of the twerps!" The Grass/Poison discharged poisonous black globs from its mouth, scattering and moving toward their targets at breakneck speeds.

"Doyubi, use Focus Blast." Yoshino commanded. Doyubi lifted its tails up and gathered ivory energy in between the gap. However, Arbok was already inches close to it, "Duck under it and hit from behind." The twin-tailed dog ran under Arbok before it could get its grip around it. Doyubi then fired Focus Blast directly on its back. "

Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" Ash commanded. The yellow mouse produced and emitted a jolt of electricity on Arbok while it was falling. On the signal of their trainers, Scizor, Forretress, Empoleon, Blaziken, and Weavile ducked and dodged at Sludge Bombs that came their way. Scizor, being more capable of these situations, reached Victreebel first. "Silver Wind, go." Aaron ordered. The gust of silvery scales hit Victreebel point-blank range.

"Victreebel, get your head together and use Stun Spore!" James commanded. After recollecting his balance, Victreebel sprayed a mist of golden spores from its mouth. "Oh, shoot, Scizor, fall back!" "The rest of you guys come back, too!" Brock yelled out cautiously. Apparently, Stun Spore had great coverage and distance. It caused the rest of the Pokemon to fall back. "Hurry!" Jessie demanded getting out another Pokeball, "Take this opportunity to call out another Pokemon!"

"Right!" The two Team Rocket members threw another Pokeball to assist Victreebel and Arbrok. Materialized from the red-and-white mechanisms were Weezing and Seviper. "Weezing, Flamethrower!"

"Seviper, Haze!"

The second Poison Snake Pokemon exhaled black smoke from its mouth, blocking everyone's view. Once the area was sounded by smoke, Weezing, blindly but with sure accuracy, fired its new move into the fray. Team Rocket made an identical picture to a smoking inferno. "We finally got them!" James shouted in excitement. "Now, let's leave before something else happens." Jessie recommended commandingly. Again, they were too slow. A green blur passed by and performed an unknown action on their balloon.

"Dat doesn't seem good." Meowth said, fearing for the worst. Their balloon began to radically plummet into the ground. A brown gust cleared out Haze to reveal that Gligar cleared was responsible. Shuckle had Protect's green dome active, defending the Pokemon and their trainers. Sceptile appeared on the ground after retracting a Leaf Blade. Now, the trainers and their Pokemon were flabbergasted. "Uh, why are they helping us?" Ash questioned in confusion.

"First, they want to kill us first sight, and now they're assisting us?" Brock said wonderingly. "Which is it?" Ian yelled out, wanting things to say the same for once. "Arbok, use Iron Tail!" "Weezing, use Poison Gas to cover Arbok!" The cobra-like Pokemon's tail alit with ivory and rushed full speed at the group. Weezing, to prevent ambushes on Arbok, exhaled green smoke which enveloped Arbok.

"No, you don't." Aaron said under his breath and the commanded, "Scizor, blow away Poison Gas with Silver Wind!"

"Blaziken, hit Arbok with Blaze Kick when it clears!" May issued her order while pointing at the poison snake.

Jessie demanded Seviper in response, "Don't let 'em! Poison Tail, Seviper!" "Victreebel, Stun Spore!" Sceptile turned to Scizor, "Sceptile Scept Tile (I got your back, go on.)" Scizor nodded in reply and spreaded its wings. As Poison Gas drawn awfully close, Scizor fired Silver Wind, colliding with Poison Gas. This also temporarily halted Arbok from advancement. Seviper abruptly appeared in front of Scizor, but Blaziken intercepted with Blaze Kick sending the snake away. Sceptile, eyeing the smoke with keen precision, saw the shadow of Arbok and jumped in with Leaf Blade ready. "Arbok, Wrap that Sceptile as seen as you see it!"

Now, concerning Victreebel's Stun Spore, just like last time it came swift and widespread. "Forretress, use Rapid Spin to fan it away!" "Empoleon, follow up with a Bubble Beam." The round Bug/Steel-type closed its shell and rotated at high speeds. It moved toward the Stun Spore cloud and repelled it away. Once a clearing was made, Empoleon fired a spray of bubbles toward Victreebel. It hit and Forretress followed up with the Rapid Spin.

Arbok currently Sceptile ensnared in Wrap. The Forest Pokemon struggled to get out of the grip. Scizor, Pikachu, Blaziken, and Doyubi were busy trying to battle Weezing, who is surprisingly stronger than it once was. "Hound!" The Dark dog Pokemon roared as it struck Arbok with an Iron Tail. The hit made Arbok lose its grip and Sceptile freed itself. "Arbok, use Bite!" Jessie commanded. The Poison-type, after regaining its composure, slithered over to the group leaders. "Houndoom… (You get the left…)" "Scept. (You get the right.)"

With that being said, Houndoom ran to Arbok leftwards while Sceptile went rightwards. Arbok was really confused and Jessie was busy commanding Seviper's actions. The Poison-type snake used Sludge Bomb and exchanged directions where it should be fired. Sceptile and Houndoom dodged every attack that threatened each other. Sceptile went behind Arbok and grabbed it to make sure it wouldn't move. "

Tile! Sceptile! (Hurry! Use that attack!)" Sceptile alerted as it tried to keep Arbok from moving. Houndoom produced a black/purple mass in its mouth and fired a same-colored missile. At the last second, Sceptile threw Arbok into the Shadow Reign while jumping out of the way. Massive damage was inflicted on Arbok and it fell down with swirls in its eyes.

"Sceptile Scept. (Nice work, Houndoom.)" Sceptile commented appreciatively, appearing beside it. "Hound Hound Hound Houndoom. (I've finally realized that fighting each other is unnecessary, we're at our strongest if we work together.)"

"Tile Scept Scept. (Then let's continue working together.)" Houndoom grinned in acknowledgement and they went to help out the rest of the crew.

"Weezing, use Smokescreen one more time!" James commanded becoming somewhat desperate. His blinding tactics were starting fail, so he threw out the last Pokemon he had left, "Come on out, Carnivine!" The green Venus-flytrap-like Pokemon materialized from the white light made from the Pokeball. Jessie also threw out her last Pokeball, knowing that Arbok had been knocked out. Yanmega, a forest green demonic-looking dragonfly, came out.

"Hey, Aaron?" Ian said, getting the orphan's attention, "Wanna try a double team?"

"Sure." Aaron responded smiling in excitement, "Everyone, stand back." Doing what he told, the Pokemon stood back as the cloud of black smoke seemingly became larger. "Scizor, Silver Wind and try to keep it at bay for the time being." Aaron commanded. Scizor produced another gust of silvery wind but managed to keep it in a circular dome.

"Now, Aaron?"

"Yes."

"OK then! Weavile, use Ice Punch on the Silver Wind." The Dark/Ice-type's fists became surrounded by a cold aura. It then thrusts its fists forward into the Silver Wind. The scales then became whitish-blue snow crystals and the gust itself became lighter in hue. "Fire it, quickly!" Aaron commanded. Scizor unleashed the Icy Silver Wind. It blew away the Smokescreen and connected onto Weezing, Carnivine, Seviper, and Victreebel with ease. "Wow, that awesome." Ash gaped in amazement. "That was so cool, no pun intended." Dawn commented in the same awe as everyone else.

Jessie was definitely not having that, "All of you, get up and fight!" She huffed angrily. Not out of fear, the Pokemon stood up, ready for some revenge. Aaron, knowing that they were going to charge head on, recalled Scizor back into its Pokeball and threw out Magnezone's. "Carnvine, use Bite and Victreebel, you use Energy Ball!"

"Seviper, you use Bite, too. Yanmega, use Steel Wing!" Carnivine charged forward opening its massive jaws. Victreebel, side-by-side with Carnvine, gathered energy in front of it and formed a green ball. Yanmega flew toward their targets with its four wings glowing while Seviper slithered under it, threateningly displaying its red fangs.

Ash said gritted through his teeth, "Pikachu-"

"Allow me, Ash." Aaron interrupted as Magnezone prepared itself.

Once the opposing Pokemon were close enough, Aaron initiated his plan, "Magnezone, use Hidden Power." The Magnet Area Pokemon gathered white energy, forming a circular cross. A white beam fired from the middle of it, connecting on Seviper, Carnvine, Victreebel, and Yanmega and canceling their attacks. A second later, they were frozen in blocks of ice and they fell on their trainers.

"I dunno what's worse, being between a rock and a hard place or havin' frostbite." Meowth said as he was getting crushed and chilled by the frozen Pokemon's weight. "That was a Hidden Power?" May mused befuddled. "Well, Hidden Power is kinda complicated, depending on the Pokemon and how ya train it, you're able to attack with a type that the Pokmon usually can't do." Max explained, "What Magnezone just used an Ice-type Hidden Power, it takes a lot of training to learn that kind of technique."

"Now, let's take out this trash." Ian said, "Weavile, Shadow Ball!"

"Magnezone, Flash Cannon."

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Forretress, Spikes!"

"Blaziken, Overheat."

"Piplup, Whirlpool!"

"Doyubi, Focus Blast."

"Starmie, Hydro Pump!"

Weavile gathered up ebony and violet energy in its claws/hands and it shaped into a ball. Weavile fired it. Magnezone created an ivory ball from its magnets. The Electric/Steel-type fired it in the shape of a beam. Pikachu produced electricity in its cheeks, and it surged throughout his body unleashing a great shock.

Out of its red protrusions, Forretress sprayed out spiky objects. Blaziken, after intensely glowing red, emitted a great blaze of flames. Piplup glowed a majestic blue and created a whirlpool from the tip of its petite fins. The Penguin Pokemon then threw it. The Twin-Tailed Pokemon again generated white energy between gaps of its tails and threw it. The purple starfish-shaped pokemon fired a twister-like gush of water from the tip of its highest arm. All attacks collaborated and sped over to their targets.

Team Rocket screamed in terror as the attacks closed in on them and eventually hit them. "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They yelled as disappeared into the sky like they normally do.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted." Ian remarked with half-enthusiasm and half-sarcasm. "Well, I guess we can finally assume that the forest pokemon will no longer fight." Misty said recalling Starmie back into its Pokeball. Sceptile and Houndoom sounded, confirming what Misty just said. All trainers (besides Ash, Aaron, and Yoshino) withdrew their Pokemon back into their Pokeballs.

"I would really like to thank you all for finding Doyubi and settling the bad blood in the forest." Yoshino said thankfully. The group was currently on the path that would lead out of Firguson Forest and into Firguson City. "No problem, Yoshino." Ash said. "A friend in need is a friend indeed." Brock uttered proverbially. "Are we there yet?" May questioned in a slight whiny tone. "Unfortunately not, because we really need to sign up for this dang contest." Ian stated. The group finally made it out of the forest and a small hill came into view. They climbed its elevation and there they saw a modernized city. "Finally, we made it!" Ash pronounced proudly.

Now, everyone slowly descended down. Ian's eyes wandered elsewhere and something caught. A figure, as clear but detailed as a bubble, passed by and stopped. Ian couldn't confirm the figure's person, but it seemed to have spotted Ian and zipped straight into the forest.

"O….K." Ian droned in befuddlement. "Hound!" A voice barked. The Ghost Pokmon enthusiast turned around to see the same Houndoom from before jogging after him. "What, or better yet why, are you here?" Ian interrogated. Houndoom barked in reply. Somehow, Ian was able to decipher what it was trying to say. "You wanna travel with me?" Ian once again questioned in disbelief. Houndoom yipped affirmatively. "Alright, fine by me." Ian took out an empty Pokeball and tapped Houndoom's muzzle with it. It opened up and Houndoom dematerialized into it. The Pokeball's button blinked a couple times but eventually stopped. Ian smiled at his newly captured Pokemon.

"Uh, Ian? Aren't you going to come down here?" Aaron asked from the distance. "Yeah, just takin' in the sights." Ian responded in half-truth. He finally descended down and met up with the rest of the group and, together, they at long last arrived at Firguson City.


	8. Setting the Planning Field

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Setting the Planning Field**

The group stepped through the gates of Firguson City. It had some tall buildings, but not many and they were located on the northern (or exiting) portion of the city. The only large building near the southern (or entering) portion of the city was the Contest Hall (on the western). The rods were made of concrete as usually and the ground creating the foundations of the buildings had a pattern of silver and charcoal black squiggly lines. From where they were now, they could clearly see a park (in the core of the city) with lush green grass and a large fountain spewing out clear water in a majestic fashion.

"Wow, Yoshino," Ash said in astonishment, "You live in a beautiful city."

"Why thank you, Ash." Yoshino thanked, "But Firguson City isn't famous for its modernization, but for its aquatic involvement." Dawn inquired, "Aquatic involvement?" Yoshino explained further, "There's a lake on the eastern part of the city that sometimes shows are held displaying acts with Water Pokemon."

"Can I assume that gym leader is a Water-type enthusiast?" Aaron suddenly asked. "Yes." Yoshino blinked, more so at the brunette's sudden leap.

"Thought so." Aaron responded and asked, "Where's the gym anyway?"

"You should find somewhere near the park." Yoshino answered. Ash then declared, "OK then. So, I guess that's where I'm heading."

"You have to-"

"Dang it, Aaron, I know what I'm supposed to do!"

"Then do it."

"I will!"

"Then where's the Pokemon Center?"

"I do not know, it should that obvious, Aaron."

Aaron chuckled before asking Yoshino a favor, "For Ash's sake, could you tell us where the Pokemon Center?" The magenta-haired female replied, "It's near the Contest Hall."

"Oh, good, then we can get our Contest Passes while we're at it." May pronounced happily. "Well, I gotta get home, everyone, but you should know most of the directions by now." "We do, Yoshino." Brock said, "Thanks again." The magenta-haired female then walked away to go back to her residence. "Well, I guess we split to do what we want to do." Misty deduced. "Well, I'm off to the Pokemon Center." Ash proclaimed as he went off instantly. "Ash, wait up!" Brock called out as he followed the young trainer. "I swear, Ash, sometimes you don't even think about stuff." Misty groaned inwardly as she began to follow after her first two traveling friends. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to get my pass." May said as started to walk away. "Wait for me, May!" Dawn shouted as she ran after the older coordinator. Ian noticed Max didn't follow his older sister, "Uh, Max? Aren't you going with them?" "To tell you the truth, I'd rather hang out with you two." Max said. He then felt a force pulling his ear and forcibly made his follow a direction, "You're coming with me since I'm held responsible for your safety." May expounded as she pulled her little brother by the ear. Max could put up little resistance, so he willingly followed her. "Maybe next time, Max!" Ian assured in comfort.

Aaron spoke he as watched Max get dragged by his sister, "You know, it's times like these I'm glad that I'm the older sibling." "Yeah…Well, see ya, dude." Ian then turned to walk away, but Aaron grabbed him by his cloak, "Why don't you come with me to the gym, Ian?"

"We're late to register as it is. I don't want to be later." Ian replied while crossing his arms.

"We'll both make it. A good reason is that all of us should get a ribbon before we leave, so we waste time for Dawn and May to get theirs and then we enter and get ours. I'll be wasting time by doing my Gym Battle." Aaron explained. "Hmm. Good point." Ian remarked in an impressed tone but then countered, "But what does that have to do with us being late?" Aaron replied, "Assuming that I know May and Dawn enough, once they know we officially have our passes, they expect us to enter and that contradicts with my plan." Ian contemplated Aaron's plan. It seemed foolproof, but all the spots could be filled up during the course of his battle. "I don't know." He said skeptically. "Come on, how many times have I been wrong to you." Aaron assured. Now, _that _he couldn't argue against. Most of the time Aaron would be right. "I guess I can't argue with that. So, let's haul ass." With that, Ian and Aaron went to their destination.

Minutes passed and Ian and Aaron closed in the gym. As the two cut through the park Ian asked, "You sure you don't want to transfer any Pokemon?" Aaron nodded negatively, "Don't need to. Magnezone, Scizor, and Lucario are all I need."

"At most Magnezone." Ian said jokingly with a wide grin. Aaron laughed at his joke, "I wouldn't underestimate anyone this early, but you may be right."

Not long after, they reached the gym and the sight was spectacle to behold. The pathway leading the door was tiled with rich soil. Two pools with water lilies and many other water flowers were sectioned in squares, resembling a maze. The pathway was lined with bushes with pretty flowers. And to top it all off, hoses sprayed water arches over the pathway. The external of the gym itself was colored silver with blue waves along the foundations to symbolizing its aquatic adherence. The roof was a beautiful aquamarine.

"Wow, this place looks cool." Ian remarked as they walked into the pathway. "Display is one thing, the knowledge and ability to battle is another." Aaron stated sagaciously. He was eager to battle and he tell can his Pokemon were raring to go. Aaron stopped midway to look around. "Though, I have to admit that the manufacturer did an outstanding job." Ian continued walking until he came to the door, but a note taped on the door paused any further movements. He leaned his head forward to inspect it. "Hey, Aaron!" He called out interrupting Aaron's reveries. "Yeah?"

"Gym's closed."

"WHAT?" The hat-wearing male screamed out and ran over to the door, pushing Ian aside and he fell over the bushes.

_Challengers, _

_I am terribly sorry, but the gym is closed for today due to the show tonight._

_Terribly sorry for any inconvenience ,_

_Firguson City Gym Leader, Marina_

Aaron stared to twitch. All the momentum and excitement just crashed in an instant. "You asshole!" Ian spat as climbed over the bush wall, "You almost knocked me into the- Oh, crap…" Ian recognized that look. Aaron is usually a patient man, but when he gets mad, he's like a bunch of angry Tauros.

People all over Firguson City then wondered who had a loud enough voice to shout an expletive through its busy streets.

* * *

Ash Ketchum burst the automatic door. Luckily, no one was in the way and rushed over the Nurse Joy's desk, "Sign me up for the Pokemon League!" He demanded quickly as he presented his Pokedex. "Uh, sure." The young nurse replied taken back by the trainer's sudden action. She grabbed Ash's Pokedex and began the process to register him. Not long after, Nurse Joy reported, "Alright, Ash Ketchum, you're register to compete in the Pokemon League." She then handed him in his badge case. The case itself was a platinum silver color. "Thank you, ma'am." He thanked and then Brock rudely appeared in front of him, "While he's registered to battle, how 'bout I register us from dinner reservations tonight?" The male flirted just like he always does. Tracing back to old roots, Misty pulled Brock's ear to pacify him, "Haven't changed one bit…" Misty said inwardly.

* * *

"That really does suck, Aaron." Ian said empathetically. After finding out that the gym was closed, Aaron and Ian went to the park to calm down and plan on what else to do. The two best friends/greatest rivals sat on a wooden park bench near one of the concert trails. "I only wonder how Ash is going to react when we tell him." Aaron said. Ian groaned at the thought of the more feisty trainer, "Dude, don't give me ideas." He pleaded. "Well," Aaron droned, "If does give me some time to decide on my strategy."

"Dude, it's a Water-type gym. Not the mention the fact it is the first gym in Tenla. The first gym's are the easiest and Magnezone will eat the little fishes are dinner." Ian pointed out. Supposedly, when concerning Aaron, the odds were pretty much against Marina the so-called Gym Leader.

"Hm. If it isn't Aaron." A nonchalant voice said out of nowhere. Ian and Aaron looked over their shoulders to see a purple-haired boy. He was wearing a grey and black over-jacket zipped up closed and dark grey pants along with black and grey shoes.

"Oh, hey, Paul." Aaron greeted. "Uh, what are you doing here?" Ian asked with a slightly raised black brow. "I _was _here to battle the Gym Leader, but it's closed today." Paul responded. "Yeah, we saw it too and now we're bored of our mind." Aaron stated. Paul smirked, seeing this as an opportunity, "Then, Aaron, I request a battle from you." Aaron turned again to face Paul, "You want to battle?"

"Did I stutter?" Paul countered.

Aaron smiled blithely, "Well, it would be great training before the Gym Battle, so let's do it. Right here, right now."

"My thoughts exactly."

The two trainers then positioned themselves on the walkway, providing enough space to allow the Pokemon to spawn. "What are the rules, Paul?" Aaron asked. "Three-on-three, plain and simple." Paul replied. "Alright then." Aaron then picked out a Pokeball and enlarged it, "Lucario, game on!" He threw the Pokeball and the legendary Aura Pokemon materialized from the white light. The Steel/Fighting-type got in its usual position, ready to battle. "Honchkrow, stand by for battle!" Paul threw out his Pokeball and the Big Boss Pokemon, Honchkrow, came out and flapping its wings slowly to keep it in the air. "Well, I'm no longer bored." Ian announced as he kicked back, crossed his legs, and prepared to spectate an awesome battle, "Hey, I'll be the ref, 'K, guys?"

"Whatever." Paul muttered.

"Fine by me! Make the first move, Paul." Aaron requested.

"Gladly. Honchkrow, Shadow Ball!" Paul ordered. "Krow!" The Dark/Flying Pokemon gathered a bunch up of dark energy near its break. It then fired it toward Lucario's way.

"Lucario, Double Team!" Aaron ordered. Lucario suddenly multiplied and Honchkrow's Shadow Ball phased right through them. "Now, Bullet Punch." Lucario and its clones dashed a high speeds towards the bird pokemon with its right and left arms alit with silver.

"Haze 'em down and quickly." Honchkrow's outline eerily changed black and smoke started to emit out. The large black clouds enshrouded Lucario and its clones (which dispelled out of defocus). "Now Double Team and Sky Attack it." Paul commanded grinning arrogantly. Honchkrow, able to see Lucario clearly, multiplied within Haze. Then every single Honchkrow glowed white and flew toward Lucario.

"Lucario, try to located them." Aaron commanded. The Aura Pokemon, using its best ability to the fullest, closed its eyes and concentrated on its aura energy. Easily, he telepathically spotted every Honchkrow. Lucario got into a squatting position, awaiting the last minute to dodge.

Paul noticed that Lucario didn't move and Aaron did not issue a command prior to his last command. He suspected what his next action might be. The last minute approached, "Dodge it!" "Swing upward, now!" Lucario jumped up thinking he evaded all the Honchkrow. The birds all swung upward before they collided and wound up striking Lucario. The Haze disappeared revealing what damage had been. Aaron looked impressed that his last minute tactic didn't work, "That was some nice prediction." He complimented inwardly.

"Finish it off with Shadow Ball." Paul commanded. Honchkrow stopped in front of its prey and once again brought together sphere-shaped black energy. "Lucario, Hyper Beam!" "Double Team, on the double!" "Shoot 'em all down once it is executed!" "Fire that Shadow Ball after you Double Team!" Lucario, while it was still falling from the sky due to Sky Attack, charged up orange/yellow energy in between the gaps of its hands. Honchkrow, while it was still amassing up a Shadow Ball, multiplied once again, circling around Lucario. The Honchkrows immediately fired Shadow Ball. Lucario, using its aura power, found the actual Honchkrow and fired Hyper Beam its way, disintegrating two Shadow Balls in its way. Lucario got hit by the other seven Shadow Balls because it was unable to dodge and the real Honchkrow got blasted by Hyper Beam. Both Pokemon fell from the sky and landed the ground. Both of them had swirls of discontinuity in their eyes.

"Both Lucario and Honchkrow are unable to continue; the round results in a draw." Ian officiated as the two trainers returned their Pokemon. "Valiant effort, Lucario. You tried your best." Aaron whispered to its Pokeball. "Not bad, I guess." Paul blandly told its Pokeball and got out another. "Gliscor, stand by for battle!" The red and white mechanism popped out a Ground/Flying-type bat-like pokemon. The Fang Scorp Pokemon stood up by its tail. "Scizor, game on!" Aaron threw out his Pokeball and Scizor came out. It kneeled one of its knees crossing its claws and arms. "It's your turn to make the first move." Paul declared.

"If you say so." Aaron mumbled not favoring making the first move, "Scizor, run over to Gliscor and use Metal Claw." Scizor, at blinding speeds pivoting from left to right, ran/glided over to Gliscor. "Dark Pulse it!" Paul ordered. Gliscor extended out its right claw and a beam of black circles streamed out. Scizor easily dodged it and, because of its speed, miraculously disappeared. _"Dammit, that Scizor is ridiculously fast!" _Paul roared mentally. Within a millisecond, Scizor appeared behind Gliscor, claws alit. "Sandstorm!" Paul commanded. Suddenly, a brown windstorm brewed and Scizor's attacks was stopped cold. "Guillotine!" Gliscor turned around to face Scizor with its claws glowing. "Block it!" Aaron alerted. Scizor used Metal Claw to stopped Guillotine's advancement.

"Iron Tail." Paul commanded. Gliscor's tail illuminated, hardened, and, using aerodynamic skills, flipped upwards and nailed Scizor in his chin. The Bug/Steel-type flew into the air from the impact. "Guillotine once more!" Gliscor flew up to the still ascending Scizor with its claw glowing once more. "Use Protect." Aaron ordered not at all worried. Scizor produced a green dome that immediately blocked Guillotine. "Silver Wind, make it spin!" Scizor then dispelled Protect. It started spinning around while Silver Wind came into effect. A rotating Silver Wind connected onto Gliscor sending it flying away. "Get together using Iron Tail." Paul demanded. Somehow, Gliscor regained its balance by flying in a circular motion and darted to Scizor with its tail covered in glowing metallic energy. It slammed the Steel-type attack square in Scizor's abdomen.

"Grab it and retaliate with Hyper Beam!" Aaron ordered. Scizor, quickly regaining its composure, used its left claw to grab Gliscor's tail. Its right claw started charging energy. "Guillotine!" "Hurry and fire it!" Gliscor, as a last-ditch effort to win, tried to jab Guillotine into Scizor. At close range, Scizor fired Hyper Beam and Gliscor hit its mark. Both Pokemon were blown backwards skidding in the ground. They both had swirls of discontinuity in their eyes. "Gliscor and Scizor are unable to continue. This round also results in a draw." Ian officiated.

The trainers recalled their Pokemon back in their respective Pokeballs. Ian noticed that most of the people in the park had stopped and watched the battle. "Hey, guys, you two are famous." He informed. Paul and Aaron looked around to see people were eagerly watching. They respectively responded in disinterest, "Like I care." "Whatever." Aaron took out his Pokeball and threw it, "Let's end this, Paul."

"With pleasure!" The violet-haired teen threw out his. The Pokemon that popped out were Magnezone and Magmortar.

"Oh, this should be fun." Aaron remarked ecstatically.

"And this should end quickly." Paul said genteelly.

"Begin the battle."

"Magmortar, Fire Punch!" Paul ordered. Magmortar started to rush forward with heat flowing from its right fist, but the Fire-type was sluggishly moving. _"Real bad start, Paul." _Aaron mentally commented. "Magnezone, Flash Cannon!" Magnezone produced a shiny ball from its magnets and fired it toward the still-charging Magmortar. "Punch it!" Paul ordered. Magmortar punched Flash Cannon squared and, amazingly, Flash Cannon turned red and was deflected back to Magnezone. "Didn't see _that _coming!" Aaron announced, completely taken aback, "Dodge it!"

"Smokescreen."

Magnezone sidestepped (or floated) pass the fiery Flash Cannon but came face-to-face with Magmortar's arm cannon. The Blast Pokemon sprayed black smoke in front of Magnezone, restricting view. "Fire Blast." Paul commanded once again smirking arrogantly. Magmortar fired a big blast of extreme heat into the smoke. An explosion occurred. Everyone looked anxiously as the smoke expended. "I believe that Magnezone's done for." Paul said triumphantly as watched the smoke dispel. Aaron smirked, "You would think that, would you?" Paul grin faded and then shouted, "What's that suppose to mean?"

"The answer lies in the sky." Aaron hinted crossing his arms, "Hyper Beam…." Suddenly, an orange/yellow blast rained down from the sky and hit Magmortar. "What the?" Paul gaped in shock. _"That Magnezone was in plain sight, even if Smokescreen had disrupted any vision. Fire Blast has a huge blast radius. There's just no way he could've avoided it so quickly." _He mentally ranted. The large Fire-type fell backwards in pain, but it wasn't knocked out. Magnezone floated back down to earth with its sleek silver exterior virtually unscathed. "How did…?" Paul wondered completely astounded at the occurrence. "Do you want me to explain, Paul?"

Paul sighed exasperatedly before replying, "Go ahead…"

"OK," Aaron began to explain, "True Magnezone and I were completely surprised the attack shift you and Magmortar did, but I was still able to assess the situation because I didn't panic. When you captured Magnezone in that Smokescreen, I knew that you were going to use a powerful Fire-type maneuver to finish it. So, right as Magmortar did that Fire Blast, Magnezone used a Thunderbolt to block it resulting in that explosion. I told Magnezone to hover above the smoke since you couldn't see it which leads to now."

"I gotta pay more attention to those kinds of things." Paul noted inwardly. "But I know that Magnezone can't attack because of Hyper Beam, so Magmortar Fire Blast!" The Blast Pokemon extended both of its arm cannons and heat began to build up. Two human-shaped inferno exploded out of the cannons and toward Magnezone. Aaron and Magnezone didn't panic, didn't twitch, and didn't even speak. They were calm apparently having another plan in their minds. The last minute approached, "Dodge and use another Hyper Beam!" The Magnet Area Pokemon moved out of the way at the last minute and discharged another ferocious Hyper Beam. "That last-minute crap again?" Paul exclaimed in surprise and then ordered, "Magmortar, move it and use Focus Blast!" The Fire-type pokemon gathered ivory energy in the both of its hands, combined the energy from both of the arms, and fired a white energy ball at Hyper Beam. However, Hyper Beam was just too powerful and shot straight through it. The blast connected on Magmortar hard and it fell back just as hard. It couldn't go on, it was done for.

"Magmortar is unable to continue, the round and the battle goes to Aaron!" Ian announced pointed to his arm toward Aaron's side. "Good job, Magnezone." Aaron remarked. "Magne." The Pokemon droned sheepishly. Paul was left bewildered. He exchanged glances between the fallen Magmortar and the celebrating Magnezone. _"I had the advantage, how was he able to achieve such a level of power?" _Paul returned Magmortar back into its Pokeball and then began to walk over to Aaron, "Aaron."

"Yeah, Paul?"

"Thanks for the battle. I know what I need to do to improve before the gym battle," Paul stated, "But tell me this, how does you Pokemon achieve such power?"

Aaron gladly told him, "Well, my style's kinda complicated but I'll tell you the general gist of it. Locate the best attribute each of your Pokemon and focus on that priority. Also, let all of your Pokemon know a tactic that they can easily recognize." 

_"Those last-minute dodges." _Paul thought understanding what that last sentence meant.

"Lastly, have all of your Pokemon trainer and fight against each other without your help. After battles, critique them on what they need to improve on. Pretty soon, they'll have extraordinary abilities, but if it's not your style, don't do it." The violet-haired male took every word of advice, "I see…" Paul then bowed to Aaron, "Thanks again, I'll see you soon." The trainer began to walk off but during his departure, he said, "By the way, tell that loser Ash that he'll lose to _me _this time."

Ian then started to clapped his hands, "Well, nice one, Aaron." He complimented, "Now, you know that Magnezone is definitely top dog for you to use in your Gym Battle."

"Yeah, but I also know that I need to work with Scizor and Lucario a bit." Aaron stated.

Just then, a figure popped in Aaron's face out of the blue, "That was fabulous!" A feminine voice complimented. That made Aaron and Ian's nerves jump and almost caused to stumble over. "The way you battled truly shows the mastery of a Pokemon Coordinator! You must be some kind of pro!" She continued. Aaron had a sweat drop appear on the back of his head as he sheepishly replied, "Uh…thanks. I'm…flattered." She kept getting closer to him rambling on like an adoring fan, "Please tell me something. What do I need to know during Pokemon Contest? What to feel? What to think? What to do? What to wear?" Each time she asked a separate question, she moved forward, prompting Aaron to move back to create space. "Hold on! Who are you anyway?" He exclaimed in demand.

The female turned sane once again and replied, "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Marina."

"Hey, wait. Isn't Marina the name of the Gym Leader?" Aaron asked. "No, I'm different Marina." She said. "You traveling with anyone?" Ian interrogated. "Yeah, his name's Jimmy. He went off somehow without letting me know." Marina huffed crossing her arms somewhat upset. _"I can imagine why." _Aaron thought sarcastically. "Hey, we're on our way to the Pokemon Center." Ian said and the suggested, "Wanna come with us?"

"Sure

"Well, my name is Ian Darusu and that guy is Aaron Shadow." The Ghost-type trainer introduced both of them, "Now let's go, we need to be on our way."

* * *

In the Contest Hall, May and Dawn had applied themselves for liability for the Grand Festival. After the receptionist had configured their information, she announced that they were entered and handed them their Contest Passes. Like normal ones, they had an icon of them, their date, their name, etc. "Thank you for registering." She thanked, "The next Pokemon Contest starts tomorrow." "OK, thanks." The replied in unison. She also gave them a case to store their ribbons. May's was greenish while Dawn's was pink. "We'd better go find the others." Dawn said. "Don't bother, they came to us." May declared as she pointed to the doors.

Ash, Brock, and Misty had walked right in, as if on cue. "Hey, Ash." Max greeted, "You finally got registered?" "At long last, I did." Ash proudly replied. "So, Aaron and Ian still aren't here?" Misty questioned. "We probably went to do his Gym Battle and Ian went with him." May said. "And that's just what I'm about to do." Ash announced and then turned around, "C'mon, guys. No time to waste."

Ash then started to walk toward but was stopped when someone entered. "Excuse me, please." He said politely. "Oh, hey, Ash." The voice greeted. Ash examined the figure for another second and it was Jimmy. "So, you're here, Jimmy." Ash stated. "Like I said I would be."

"Um, who is this?" Brock questioned as he approached the two. "Oh, I'm Jimmy. I met Ash back in Zumi Town when Team Rocket tried to snag Pikachu." He explicated. "Oh, then the name's Brock." The black male introduced. Shortly, the rest of the group introduced themselves to Jimmy and Typhlosion. "So, what'cha doing here for?" Ash asked. "I was looking for my friend Marina, but apparently she she's gone and I have to look for her." Jimmy answered. "May, Dawn, you guys finished what you were doing?" Brock inquired the two coordinators. "Yup!" The two answered simultaneously. "Well, let's go look for her." Ash said. Once again, the group left for another 'adventure'.

* * *

Ian, Marina, and Aaron, after their recent encounter at the park, are currently on their way to the Contest Hall. "So, Marina, this is your first time trying out Contest Battles?" Aaron inquired. Apparently, a conversation about contests initiated. "Yup. I've always been interested in performances and now I'm to take it to the big stage." Marina said and then turned to Aaron, "Which is why I need you to help teach me. Please help me!" She was serious and the expression on her face showed it. She had the solemn determination to listen and act out. Aaron started into her crystal blue eyes and then responded, "Sure, if you're willing to listen, learn, and elaborate."

"Listen, learn, and elaborate. Got it!" Marina said, putting the three words into her memory banks. "Although you are henceforth _my _apprentice, I'm sure my other friends won't mind lending a hand either." Aaron stated.

The mention of 'other friends' made Ian's head shoot straight back up and then turned to Aaron, who looked him. Ian made a hand gesture across his neck meaning he wanted no part on this. He did this while Marina continued to ramble on things that an 'apprentice' would do to his/her 'teacher'. "Yeah, my friend Ian here is also a coordinator, he'll help you, too." Aaron notified. Ian hung his head low; he was involved now. _"This boy did not just do that…" _Ian cursed mentally as he had a blank expression on his face.

"Is it true, will you really help me, too, Ian?" Marina inquired. "Yeah, yeah." He replied unenthusiastically seeing there was no way out. "Fabulous!" She exclaimed happily, throwing her hands in the air. Ian then turned to Aaron and mouthed "I'm gonna get you later." Aaron mouthed in reply, "You'll _thank _me later." Ian's grey eyes tightened in anger. With a huff, he simply turned away.

"Aaron! Ian!" A voice shouted in the distance. The trio turned around to see Yoshino running up to them. "Who's that?" Marina inquired. "That's Yoshino." Ian said. "Is she your girlfriend or something?" "Huh?" Ian exclaimed in surprise. Marina chuckled, "I'm just kidding." She said in-between laughs. _"I can't believe I'm going to be his broad's teacher…" _Ian thought melancholily. Aaron had introduced Yoshino to Marina and vice versa. Then, they continued their way to the Contest Hall. However, halfway on their travel, they saw Ash and the others going to opposite way. "There they are." Yoshino pointed out. Ash and the others apparently saw them because they jogged over to them.

"Hey, guys." Aaron greeted, "Did you get everything done?"

"That is right, Aaron." Ash proclaimed proudly, "I finally signed up for the Tenla League."

"And we finally got our Contest Pass!" Two female chipper coordinators announced in unison. Then, two other friends reunited, "Well, Marina, I finally found you…again…" Jimmy stated grumbly. "You have nothing to worry, Jimmy," She reassured, "I was just watching a battle and I think I found a teacher to help me contests." 

_"I feel sorry for the poor sap." _Jimmy thought. Aaron, out of nowhere, sneezed. "Bless you?" Jimmy said, blinking. "Thank you." Aaron said as he rubbed his nose.

Ian slickly appeared behind Marina and asked, "Who's that? Your boyfriend?" He grinned mockingly. "Don't be ridiculous!" She exclaimed. "What comes around, goes around…" He silently stated sagaciously. "Well, I'm off to the gym, so see ya!" Ash pronounced as he began to walk off. _"And there he goes again." _Misty thought. "Um, Ash?" Aaron said. Ash rolled his eyes, "What is it now, Aaron?"

Aaron sighed before saying a statement that would anger the hot-blooded trainer, "The gym's closed." Ash twitched, "The gym's closed?" He asked in disbelief. His voice sounded normal but it was nowhere near normal. A type of voice that would send his Sceptile running. Now, Ash was seething in frustration. _"You picked a lousy time, Aaron." _Misty thought fearing the worst.

Now, Firguson City was wondering how _two _people on the same day could say an expletive that would echo across the city.


	9. Water We Waiting For?

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Water We Waiting For?**

By now, the group finally made their way to Firguson Lake. They awed at the beauty if the lake from above the hill. A gorgeous cerulean blue glow that sparkled with majesty. The lake was obviously handled with great care. A nice golden sandy beach accompanied the lake to enhance the beauty. Aaron noticed that a stage was present in the water near shore and some benches were on the shore.

"So, this is the show that note was talking about?" Aaron said.

"Show?" Max inquired.

"The gym leader left a note on the door saying that the gym was closed for the show tonight, "Aaron responded beginning his descent down to the shore, "I see why now."

"A water show? I'd love to attend tonight." Misty said as she continue to gaze at the impressively constructed stage. "Do we even have enough money to get tickets?" Dawn questioned. Misty hopes were immediately struck down, "I…don't know."

"It would be nice to attend." Brock said as he began his descent. "I honestly wouldn't care." Ash stated. That peeved Misty off a bit, "How could you not care about this? This water event is probably the best thing to ever happen! The obvious should be yes."

"Calm down, I didn't know this meant this much to you." Ash tried to reason with the water-type fanatic. "It does. And my actions display my attitude when it comes to these kinds of things." Brock then discreetly whispered something to Dawn, "When it comes to H20, Misty's a madman." Dawn whispered back in concurrence, "For a water-lover, Misty sure gives off a lot of hot air."

"I'm sorry, are you talking about me?" Misty questioned sweetly suddenly appearing behind the two. Dawn and Brock exclaimed and then stammer some unintelligible stuff that was along the line of 'No, not at all, or never'; something of that nature. "Ok!" She said with the same innocent tone as she walked by the two. _"Misty sure has gotten a bit more intimidating." _Brock thought.

"This has gotta be one heck of a show tonight." May said as she examined the ocean and stage continuously. Marina squatted down to the water and treaded her hand against the surface. "It would be nice if we could take a swim." Marina said.

"Yeah." Jimmy responded absentmindedly.

She kept on waving her hand across the tame water. Suddenly, her hand came across a more slightly rougher surface. She assumed that it was the sand underneath the shoreline. Then something protruded from the surface, throwing the assumption out the window. The protrusion, a blue dorsal fin, came up along with a pair of yellow eyes. Marina blinked….nothing else…"Sll?" It trilled questioningly. (A/N: This Pokemon sounds just like a Solrock so now you have an idea of its voice.)

"Uh….." She droned absentmindedly. Soon, the fish elevated itself so Marina could just about see all of the top part of it.

"Whoa," Jimmy piped in from behind, "What is that?" He got out his Pokedex and looked up the mysterious water pokemon.

"**Tralin: The Swordfish Pokemon. The evolved form of Transpy. Tralin has a 16-inch pin-like nose that can easily stab into iron and chip diamond. They are very agile swimmers and, when together in a school, oceans illuminate in a rainbow color."**

(A/N: Tralin is made of the words "**tra**nslucent", which advocates its colorful nature, and "mar**lin**" for its marlin-like appearance)

"A Tralin?" Marina said. "I gonna try and catch it!" Jimmy proclaimed as he took out a Pokeball. Tralin swiftly turned around swishing its tail find producing a small wave. The wave splashed upon Marina and Jimmy wetting them up. "That was nice." Jimmy replied sarcastically. Tralin disappeared back into the ocean. "So much for gearing up for the gym." Jimmy said. Then, a huge tremor began.

"What's going on?" Ash questioned with his voice vibrating from the tremor. "I don't think this is part of the rehearsal!" Aaron said with his voice vibrating as well. Pretty soon, the tremor as a giant entity rose the water. It was the most immense Pokemon alive, Wailord, and a tiny figure stood atop it. "Looks like we have company." Ian stated. "Wow, I haven't seen a Wailord in a long time!" Max exclaimed excitedly.

Dawn got out her Pokedex and check it out:

"**Wailord: The Float Whale Pokemon. The evolved form of Wailmer. Wailord is the biggest of all Pokemon, and can dive at a depth of 1,000 feet in only one breath."**

"I wonder what this is about." Max stated as the Wailmer got closer to the shore. The figure then hopped down from it and Ash, Misty, and Brock immediately recognized it. The figure was obviously female sporting a blue wetsuit that had a Kyogre appearance, and she had blue hair and green hair.

"Marina?" The original trio exclaimed. Once upon a time, these three met Marina in the Orange Islands. She was having a dilemma with her Water Pokemon involving both obedience and performance. Naturally, they helped her out, Misty doing most of the work being a Water-type fanatic herself.

"Are you talking about me?" The lighter hair-colored Marina piped in.

"Not you, her!" Ash responded pointing to the darker haired Marina. "Long time no see, huh, Misty, Ash, Brock?" The darker haired Marina said sliding off the Wailmer. "Too long, Marina, is that your Wailmer." Misty asked immediately filled with joy seeing a long-time friend.

"Absolutely, Misty! And guess what?" Marina stated voice raising in excitement.

"What?" Misty replied with the same thing happening to her.

"After studying Water Pokemon for some time, I was able to become good enough to become a Gym Leader in Tenla Region last year!"

"Oh, my God, that is _so_ awesome!" The two then squealed in delight like fan girls.

Excluding Ash and Brock (whom were just smiling), the group was confused as hell. "Am I missing something?" May said in confusion. "I don't get it…." Jimmy droned dumbly. "Who knew there was a second Misty?" Dawn said. "Not me." Max said pushing up his glasses.

Aaron just crossed his arms rather agitated. "What's the matter, Aaron?" Ian questioned being the nearest to him, trying to drown out the conversation between the two water fanatics.

"I don't see why they are so enthusiastic. I mean we're specialist in a certain type as well and we don't go all crazy about it." Aaron stated.

"What's your point?"

"I mean Water Pokemon don't seem all that special-"

"YOU DON'T LIKE WATER POKEMON-?" Ian screamed out prompting Aaron to cover his mouth. Marina and Misty turned to Ian and Aaron with scary, fire-induced backgrounds and red eyes (like the anime does). "What doesn't like Water Pokemon?" They interrogated darkly. "No one! Sorry to make you worry!" They answered shakily and full of fear. Marian and Misty calmed down and went to, as if nothing happen.

"Anyway," Aaron changed to a different subject, "You said you became the Gym Leader, so are you the Firguson City Gym Leader?"

"Oh, why yes, I am." She announced proudly. Aaron was about to interrogate about why the gym is closed, but Ash moved to a different subject, "Then I challenge you to a Gym Battle!"

"Well, I do accept you challenge, Ash, but…." Marina responded. "But what?" Ash asked. "Have you forgotten that the gym is closed for today, Ash?" Aaron piped in. "Oh, right." Ash remembered scratching his head nervously. "Yup, This stage," Marina pointed to the stage out on the water, "Is where I'll be performing a water show!" "A water show?" Misty exclaimed happily, "Can we come?" "Of course!"

"Well, we might as well." Brock said. "Guess you're right, Brock." Marina (lighter haired) said. "Sounds like fun!" May stated clapping her hands together. "This will probably be just like a water show Contest Master Wallace!" Dawn said imagining about the greatest coordinator alive. "I'll try! Wallace is the best!" Marina announced. "Well, Wallace is an inspiration to all Water-type trainers and coordinators." Yoshino replied. "Not me…" Aaron said in a low voice and turned to walk away." Almost everyone turned to look at the departing Aaron. "Why not, Aaron? Max asked. "Wallace has never been my inspiration….There's no one that I look up to as a role model….Except for my parents…." With that, Aaron walked up the pier stairs and disappeared from their sights.

"Uh, I'd better go after him." Ian said with a somewhat unsettled tone. The Ghost-type enthusiast followed the Steel-type enthusiast. Suddenly, behind the group, a splash occurred. The group stared awestruck as the Tralin jumped from the water majestically. "Wow, is that your Tralin, Marina?" the sky-blue haired Marina asked the dark blue haired Marina. "Yes, the very first Tralin ever captured and we've grown a good bond after such short time." the dark blue haired Marina said. Misty reached into her bag, maximized the size of a Pokeball and threw it, materializing Transpy. "Wow, Misty, you got a Transpy!" Marina said in awe.

Once again, the Water-type Gym Leaders began to mingle on and on while their friends just sympathetically listened.

* * *

Aaron continued to walk down the silver streets of Firguson City aimlessly. He wasn't going to return to his friends if they were going to keep rambling on and on about the so-called "greatest coordinator ever". Truth be told, Aaron possessed a disfavor for Water-type pokemon which is why they're his least favorite kind of Pokemon. Also, he always disliked Wallace, and other similar blowhard, for being so overrated. Add that to the fact Wallace specializes in Water-type pokemon and the Contest Master earned officially got, to say the least, a hater.

Sighing, Aaron halted his movements and began to contemplate what do next. "Hey, Aaron!" his best friend's voice called out. Well, he no longer had to meditate on that matter. The hat-wearing male turn his head to look over his shoulder. "What, Ian?" He asked. The Ghost-type specialist finally caught up and replied, "Well, you left so abruptly, I just wanted to check up on you."

Aaron fully turned around to face his friend and stated, "I'm fine. I just didn't want to hear a conversation involving Wallace." Ian nodded in understanding. Because he was Aaron's best friend, he was practically the only one who knew about the strategist's inner secrets and vice verse. "Right. So, are you coming back?" The black-haired male inquired.

"Not right now. I'll meet you guys again eventually," Aaron responded.

"OK. Later then."

With that, Ian turned back around and retraced his previous route. Aaron, now left alone again, continued his aimless route. After approximately fifteen minutes, he made to a strip mall. There were many establishments that specialized in apparel, cuisine, novelty merchandise, electronics, and more. The brunette's interest was never piqued so he resumed meaningless saunter. However, when he passed by a certain clothing store, his interest skyrocketed.

In the display window, a tailor-made outfit hung against a pole. The outfit generally could be described as suitable for a prince. In fact, it almost resembled a modern-age, royal prince's garb. The shirt was of a bistre-like color with gold button and fancy linings outlining the torso, collar and shirttail. Shoulder pads were evident. The pants were of the same color and tailor-made design. A golden belt was the only difference. Lastly, a bistre hat with a golden feather stood atop the pole, mere inches from meeting the collar.

Aaron examined the outfit pleasantly. He realized that he never once dressed out for contests in the Sinnoh region. The time for change was imminent and the solution was practically staring at him now. Subconsciously, his left hand went up to his hat. That was the only problem; the hat he currently wore was irreplaceable and headwear featured in the display feature along with the coveted garb contradicted this. He thought about it for some time. Eventually, he entered the store hoping that he could a coax some form of deal.

Later, Aaron exited the shop with a satisfied grin and a dry cleaner's bag hanging by his hand over his shoulder. "Glad the merchant was able to understand." Aaron stated softly with his grin still existent. The male dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his grey Pokedex. He opened it to examine the time. "Whoa. I was in there for twenty minutes?" Aaron said in disbelief. That meant he was away from his friends for about thirty minutes. Surely, they were done with whatever they were talking about. "Well, I guess I should go back-"

"Hey, Aaron!" An entirely different voice called out. Stopping, Aaron turned to inspect the voice's origination. He saw May waving at him to catch his attention. She was accompanied by Marina (coordinator) who was always waving at him. Cocking a small smile, Aaron approached the two young women. "Hey, you two, what's up?" He inquired. "Doing what every girl loves." May smirked. The two women then simultaneously cheered with twinkles in their eyes, "Shopping!" They held up at least two nearly full bags in both of their hands. Aaron sweatdropped at the rather ditzy display, "I see…" He droned.

"I see you've done a bit of shopping too." Marina stated, referring to the shopping bag hanging over Aaron's shoulder. "Yeah…" The male droned once more. "Hey, the gang and I are going to the hot springs. Wanna join us?" May offered. "Uh…" Aaron droned in responded, unsure of how to respond. "What? Nervous?" Marina asked with a sly grin. "Especially around…_girls_?" May asked with the same devious smirk as Marina.

A heavy blush flushed across Aaron's indifferent face. Even though he was sixteen years of age, he hadn't paid that much attention to the opposite sex, and this pseudo-"interrogation" was only baffling him greatly. Marina and May giggled at Aaron's state of speechlessness. The female brunette grabbed Aaron's free hand and started to guide him, "Come on, you can't be _that_ shy." She said giggling some more. Defeated, the hat-wearing guy let his female friend guide him with Marina following, giggling almost uncontrollably.

* * *

The hot air was contaminated with pleasantly relaxing steam. The water was comfortably warm. Patrons felt as if they had no cares in the world as they mingled and relaxed with companions.

"Ahhh~" Ash breathed out tenderly as the warm liquids soaked his muscles. "The hot springs here are amazing." Brock commented as he submerged himself even more. "I agree." Max commented as he and Pikachu, with wet folded towels on their heads, chilled out in the temperate fluid. "Oh, look who decided to join us." Ian announced with a smirk. The males diverted their attention to look at whatever Ian was referring to. Aaron had entered the hot springs, only sporting a white towel around his waist. "Hey, guys." He greeted. "Sup, Aaron?" Jimmy greeted back, waving slightly. "What took you so long?" Max asked. "Just taking care of business." Aaron replied as he entered the clement water.

"You know, Aaron, this is the first time I've seen you without your hat on." Ash remarked. "I could say the same for you, Ash." Aaron countered back. "Touché." Ash smirked. "So, Jimmy, tell us a bit about yourself." Brock queried. All eyes diverted to the Duke blue-headed trainer.

"Well, Marina and I came from the Johto region. I used to live in the same town as Professor Elm until I moved out to start my journey. Marina and I are childhood friends, but we separated to start our respective journeys. I challenged the gyms and even made it the Johto Pokemon League but I lost to another friend of mine named Vincent. So, I started this like training regimen that involved me going to the Kanto region and training."

"How long did that last?" Ian inquired. He asked that because, if Jimmy said he was doing something in Kanto, why was he here now in Tenla

"It wasn't like I was challenging Gyms in Kanto or something," Jimmy responded, "I just wanted to get stronger and hearing about the Tenla region only made me more determined."

"Well, that's awesome, Jimmy. Guess that makes you and me similar." Ash said.

"Uh, thanks, I suppose." Jimmy responded with a crooked smile. "

And rivals." Aaron added.

"Right. Since we're both entering the Pokemon League, we should be battling each other soon." Ash stated, "and nothing gets me more pumped than having rivalries."

"Yeah, same here!" Jimmy agreed with a determined smirk.

"Well, we just got here and Tenla is already proving to be a promising adventure." Brock uttered.

"Indeed." Ian agreed halfheartedly, sinking into the water

"I wonder what my sister and the others are talking about." Max wondered aloud.

"Eh, who knows? Probably girl-talk." Ash assumed.

* * *

"When I was in the Johto region, I wanted to become the best kind of performer ever. Like this fame guy named Fabulous. So, after Jimmy and I parted ways. I went all around Johto and Hoenn participating in Gym Battles because those were the only methods I knew about. After all that traveling, I realized my skills were inadequate, so I went to Sinnoh region to polish my techniques. Then, this person named Fantina turned me onto Contests, which leads to now."

"Wow, Marina, that's an interesting background." Dawn remarked as he learned against the wooden divider. "And it's also good that you're training a lot." Marina (gym leader) stated, "if you keep that up, you'll get stronger."

"Yeah, I even got someone to help teach me about Contests." Marina (coordinator) announced. "Oh?" Misty piped in out of curiosity, "And who would that be?"

"Aaron!" Marina (coordinator) announced proudly. "Aaron?" May repeated, eyes blinking in question, "He agreed to do that?"

"Well, Aaron's a nice guy and he's a great coordinator so why wouldn't he?" Dawn said, reminiscing the time when Aaron gave her the Sunyshore ribbon that finalized her entry to the Grand Festival. "Well, that's good." Misty commented, "He seems to have great manners, Ash should really take lessons from him."

A small collective laughter was elicited from Misty's comment. "I mean, Ash is kinda hardheaded and Aaron is levelheaded." May remarked comparatively. "And Aaron knows how to treat a lady with respect." Misty added. "Oh, come now." Dawn said in objection, "Ash has _some _gentlemanly features."

Yeah, besides," Marina (coordinator) spoke up, "I think Aaron's a little too _shy _while Ash seems a bit more straightforward." Misty, Marina (gym leader), and Dawn turned their heads to Marina (coordinator). "What's that suppose to mean?" Marina (gym leader) asked. "Well," May spoke, "when we told Aaron we were heading to the hot springs, he acted a little nervous. Kinda odd since guys his age would love that kind of stuff."

"Because Aaron's not like that, based on what I know about him." Misty stated. "True." Dawn agreed. "But still, I guess Aaron hasn't really seen the other side of women." Marina (gym leader) uttered. "Come to think of it, has any of the guys have done so?" Dawn wonder aloud, putting a finger near her lips in thought. "Brock is a dead giveaway." May said, chuckling slightly. "Jimmy I'm not so sure." Marina (coordinator) stated, "Ian is unanswerable too." "I bet Ash has." Misty said, "Though, I'm not so sure either."

"Kinda curious, aren't you, Misty?" Marina (gym leader) said slyly. Misty's eyes caught the sly look on her aquamarine-haired friend and responded, "What are you saying?" "You seem a bit more interested in Ash than the last time I met you." Marina (gym leader) answered. Misty gasped slightly and started to stutter, "Wha-what? I-I don't like Ash!" She responded defiantly. "Uh-huh, sure." Marina (gym leader) replied sarcastically. Marina (coordinator), Dawn, and May simply stayed out of the conversation and chuckled sheepishly.

Unbeknownst to them, Jessie, who was idly leaning against the wooden divider, was eavesdropping on their conversation out of sheer boredom. She sighed and said, "Even twerps grow up." Then, she suddenly heard the young heroes conversing about tonight's water show. This intrigued her greatly. "James, Meowth." She called out. Her two male companions, who were conveniently right behind the divider where she was positioned, responded, "What is it, Jessie?" James muttered, slightly upset his friend called him during relaxation. "The twerps are having a water show tonight." The redheaded declared, "This is our chance to rob some Pokemon." "Yeah and only da best of da best can be in a show, so da boss will be giving us a big promotion when we hand-deliver dose suckas to 'im." Meowth stated.

**-LATER-**

Nightfall had finally enriched Firguson City. This meant the water show held at the lake was close to commencing. Everyone, residents and visitors, came to spectate the oncoming show. Now, they awaited onshore for the ensuing epic to go underway. Aaron, Jimmy, Ash, Marina (coordinator), Ian, Brock, May, Max, Misty, Pikachu, and Yoshino all had front-row seats to the show. Even though the level of the gang's excitement varied, they were all ecstatic to be able to view the scene up close and personal.

Suddenly, the waters adjacent to the stage began to illuminate brightly and majestically. The audience 'ohh'-ed and 'ahh'-ed in bedazzlement. Schools of Chinchou, Lantern, and the leading conductor, Tralin, poked their heads from underground and shot beautiful rays of light into the sky. Fireworks of yellow, green, and blue resulted from the rays. A raucous applause sounded afterwards. Then, the humongous Wailord surfaced in front of the stage with Marina the gym leader sitting on top of it with her legs crossed. She stood up and gracefully jumped onto the stage. The crowed continued to go wild.

"Thank you all so much for taking the time to attend Firguson City's water show tonight." Marina spoke, her voice amplified by the microphone attached to her ear. "And to show how much we appreciate your attendance, we will give you the greatest display of water arts I can deliver!" More boisterous ovation rocked Firguson Lake.

Immediately after that, Wailord submerged itself underwater again and was replaced by a hoard of Tentecruel, Pelippers, and Slowkings. The Tentecruel shined a majestic azure as Whirlpools began to erect from where they swam. The Pelippers took flight and flapped their wings hard. The Gusts began to shape the Whirlpools into a giant, aquatic, spinning top. The Slowkings' ESP was enthralled and concentrated it on the immense top. The usage of Psychic lifted the formation from the water and into the sky, above the stage to be precise.

"Tralin, my dear, use Flash!" Marina commanded. The star of the show, Tralin, incredibly hopped from the water and straight into the middle of the hovering top formation. The Swordfish Pokemon's scales began to illuminate its stunning rainbow/tri-colored light. In doing so, the top itself became enriched by Tralin's Flash. "Now, Chinchou and Lantern, Thunder Wave!" The yellow appendages on the Chinchou and Lanterns began to crackle with electricity until they released nets of static at the top. Upon connection, the glowing top exploded into a rain of shiny rainbow colors. The spectators were absolutely mesmerized by the awesome display of water arts.

Meanwhile, in the stage's backstage, James, dressed up as one of the producers of the show stealthily wandered around the premises in search of something. "James, you dere?" Meowth ask via walkie-talkie. "Yes, I'm here. I'm still looking for where the extra Pokemon are kept." The periwinkle-haired male responded. "Well, hurry up! Jessie and I are waitin' for da signal to capture da Pokemon on stage!" "Right." After that, Meowth's voice was no longer heard. James proceeded to continue his mission. Rounding a corner, the Team Rocket member finally found his target, a school of water pokemon lying in wait for their signal. "All right." James then took a Pokeball, "Mime Jr., it's time."

The red and white mechanism spawned the Duke blue and pink Mime Pokemon, Mime Jr. "Mime~ Mime! Mime~" Mime Jr. squealed. "OK, Mime Jr, strut your stuff and uses Teeter Dance on those Pokes!" James commanded. Mime Jr. began to dance in an odd manner, swaying its petite arms in a weird way. Against their will, the water pokemon began to move in synch with Mime Jr.'s moves. Suddenly, a dark figure surfaced near these water pokemon. Mime Jr.'s Teeter Dance directed them toward this entity and into an entrance. The pokemon were successfully captured. "That's my Mime Jr.!" James exclaimed proudly as he danced with Mime Jr., "Using cuteness to capture is absolutely cultivating!" "Mime~ Mime~"

Fifteen minutes passed since that endeavor and no one had noticed the absence of the water pokemon. Apparently, Tralin, the Tentecruel, Slowkings, Pelippers, and the recently used Golducks and Poliwraths were enough to keep the show going. For now, that is. "I'm afraid this water show is nearing its end." Marina (gym leader) proclaimed in a crestfallen tone. Disappointment infected the vicinity upon the revelation. "So, I shall make this performance the best of the night!" Eagerness and joy refilled the environment once again.

Marina snapped her fingers. This was supposed to be a signal for the stolen water pokemon. When their appearance never came, Marina became worried. Noticing the abnormality, the audience began to murmur, trying to deduce the causes and reasons for the delay. "Wonder what's up." Ash said. "Something's wrong." Brock predicted.

Tralin shifted its head in all directions, wondering what happened to the group. "Ssll?...SLL!" Suddenly Tralin was forced underwater. Instantly, the remaining water pokemon in sight were dragged forcibly underwater as well. This educed collective gasps of horror from the audience. "What's going on?" Misty exclaimed shooting up from her seat.

"Prepare for trouble."

"Make it double."

"To protect this world from devastation."

"To unite all people within this nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

Out of the blue, an Ariados mech with a giant R on its face appeared on top of the stage. Its thorax was erected into the air to reveal a glass cage of all the water pokemon in the showcase. More gasps of horror rocked the region.

"Jessie!" The redheaded female appeared on the machine as a single platform lifted her up. "James!" The periwinkle-haired male appeared via the same method. "Me-owth! Dat's me!" Meowth jumped up and his hind legs landed on Jessie's left shoulder and James's right shoulder. "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" "Surround now or prepare to fight!" "Me-owth! Dat's right!"

"I'll be a monkey's uncle…" Jimmy muttered in annoyance.

"Team Rocket!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Must we deal with this?" Ian said rolling his dark grey eyes.

"Team Rocket!" Misty screamed out in rage, "You're interrupting a really great show! Not only that, you've stolen the Pokemon!"

"Too bad, so bad." Jessie responded.

"If ya want to see a show really badly, go tune in to a soap opera!" Meowth sneered.

"Bye-bye!" The vile trio then zipped back into the machine to take control. The gears and mechanisms within the robot shifted and turned. The water pokemon trapped in its thorax desperately tried to free themselves. The legs unleashed the turbines within their hollow structure. The robot start to hover in the air.

"Oh no! They're gonna get away!" Max cried out.

"Afraid not." Marina (gym leader) muttered, "They underestimated Tralin's power. "Use Slash!" Marina's command reached the hearing capacity of Tralin. The Swordfish Pokemon flopped toward the glass with its 16-inch nose glowing in sharpness. "SSSSSLLL!" It screamed out as its natural weapon easily broke the glass imprisoning it and its companions. Team Rocket cried out and trembled in shock as the water pokemon landed back in the water.

"Meowth, I thought you said that glass was designed specifically to not allow escape!" Jessie reprimanded. "

I thought it did too!" Meowth responded frantically.

"No time for all this war-making! Get those Pokemon back!" James shouted, gesturing hurriedly to their escaping targets.

Marina (gym leader) swam quickly to shore and caught her beloved Tralin. "Tralin, are you OK?" She asked in concern. Tralin's ever-present, assuring smile reassured her, "Sll." It said. "Oh, thank God." She whispered thankfully. Then her concerned demeanor altered to something serious. "Team Rocket…" She growled. Misty approached her friend with the same kind of seriousness. "Ready to send some creeps flying?" The orange-haired girl asked, enlarging her chosen Pokeball. "Oh most definitely." Marina (gym leader) concurred as she and her Tralin prepared themselves.

Ash and the gang simply stayed in their seats and watched. "I think it's best we stay where we are." Yoshino recommended as he petted Doyubi in her lap. "A wise suggestion indeed." Brock agreed. "Now for some _real _entertainment." Aaron said with a smirk of exhilaration.

Dawn looked at Aaron in question, "What do you mean by-"

"Nothing!" Aaron interjected with a semi-frantic response.

"Transpy, let's go!" Misty threw out the pokeball. The machine popped open and releases a burst of white light. It materialized one of the Tenla starter pokemon, Tranpsy. "Carnivine, front and center!" James threw out his pokeball and it materialized the giant green, Venus-flytrap Pokemon, Carnivine. "Arbrok, show 'em who's boss!" Jessie threw out her pokeball and it materialized the purple cobra Pokemon, Abrok. Arbok and Carnivine landed onstage facing down the pokemon of the same evolutionary chain.

Tralin and Tranpsy looked at each other nodded. They immediately shot toward the stage, and in turn Arbok and Carnivine. "Tralin, Ice Beam!" Marina (gym leader) commanded. The Swordfish Pokemon shot up from the water and discharged a cold beam from its mouth at the opposing duo.

"Carnivine, use Substitute!" The floating plant pokemon got in front of Arbok and poofed away in white smoke. In its place was a miniature, green, Rhydon-like doll. The Ice Beam connected to the ground directly in front of the Substitute, freezing the entire floor of the stage. Arbok hissed in nervousness. Its slick body was at a disadvantage when faced with an even slicker floor. "Transpy, Bubble Beam!" Misty commanded. Tranpsy shot up from the water and spray rapid amounts of bubbles at the enemy. The Substitute and Arbok took damage and the icy floor become even more slippery.

"Arbok, use Wrap on that Transpy!" Jessie ordered. Abrok attempted to slither to Tranpsy while it was still in the air. However, the slippery ice caused to slide off the stage and straight into the water. Jessie exclaimed and pulled her hair in concern for her Pokemon.

"Now uses Aqua Jet!" Misty commanded. When the Translucent Pokemon dived back into the water, it began to repeatedly pound Arbok at an aquatic missile. The poison-type was absolutely helpless. Finally, Carnivine's Substitute faded away after taking too much punishment. Carnivine reappeared, ready to fight once again. "Use Bite!" James commanded. Before Tralin had the chance to dive back into the water, Carnivine shot forward and chomped its massive mandibles upon the fish. "Sllll!" Tralin trilled in pain. Marina (gym leader) gasped, "Oh no! Tralin, hurry and use Flash."

The Swordfish Pokemon's body illuminated brightly, releasing an unbearable amount of tri-colored light. Carnivine loosened its grip and eventually lost its concentration altogether. "Now Ice Beam again!" Tralin flopped out away from Carnivine and released another Ice Beam at Carnivine. This time, the Venus-flytrap-like Pokemon was hit and frozen in a block of ice. Around that time, Arbok had finally suffered enough punishment from Tranpsy's Aqua Jet and was rocketed out of the water and landed beside the ice-covered. "Time to wash away this trash." Misty said. "Agreed." Marina (gym leader) stated.

"Transpy, Supersonic!"

"Tralin, Surf!"

Tranpsy's petite body illumined and released supersonic waves from its body at Arbok and Carnivine. Tralin's body also illumined slightly and a large tidal wave was summoned from underneath it. Surf combined with Supersonic to form a straightaway, sonar wave. The attack slammed down on Carnivine and Arbok. The force sent them straight through the cockpit hull of the Ariados mech and landed on their respective trainers.

Ash looked at Pikachu who was station on his shoulder, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt." He commanded. Pikachu nodded, jumped up, and released a huge quantity of static electricity at Team Rocket and their mech. An explosion occurred and Team Rocket were sent to the sky. "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They shouted as they disappeared into the sky leaving a twinkling star.

"All right!" Marina and Misty cheered. "Sll!" "Tranpsy!" The audience cheered raucously again, amazed at the great teamwork shown by the two water-type Gym Leaders. "You two were great." Misty and Marina simultaneously complimented their respective pokemon. Tralin and Tranpsy trilled and chimed in embarrassment.

**-LATER-**

All of the Water Pokemon discharged a Water Gun, forming multiple, intersecting arches of liquid above the stage. The Chinchou and Lanterns' yellow appendages touched the bases of these arches and made them shine a radiant yellow. Slowkings used Psychic to lift up Marina (gym leader) and Tralin and placed them directly on the intersection of the arches. The Pelippers sprayed a clear Mist to the top of the arches. Finally, Tralin used one more Flash, causing the Mist to resemble that of a beautiful aurora. The audience immediately stood up and wildly applauded.

As the gang watches the wonderful water show come to an end, it will be this same mastery of hydrokinesis that Ash, Aaron, and Jimmy will have to fight upon tomorrow.


	10. Turning the Rip Tide

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Turning the Rip Tide**

Ash slid open the clear door to one of the balconies of the Pokemon Center's dormitories. He inhaled the crisp, fresh morning air. Today was the scheduled day for his gym battle with Marina and he never felt more prepared. After all, this was his first gym battle of the Tenla Region. "Pikachu, are you ready?" Ash inquired, looking to his right shoulder. "Pika." The electric mouse responded happily. Pikachu would be Ash's trump card in this gym battle. After all, Electric-types trounce Water-types any day. But, that statement usually disregards movepools and abilities.

The raven-haired trainer, after fully dressing himself and doing his morning routine, went down to the lobby of the Pokemon Center. The only one of his friends present, Aaron, was at a Pokeball Transfer Device. He saw a Pokeball miraculously materializing at the machine and Aaron taking it. "Hey, Aaron." Ash greeted approaching him. "Hn? Oh, hey, Ash." Aaron greeted in response as he stowed away his newly transferred Pokeball. "Ready for our gym battle?" Ash asked. "Yeah, I am." Aaron replied. "Who are you gonna use?" Ash asked again. "Magnezone, Scizor, and either Empoleon or Lucario." Aaron answered then rebounded the question, "And you?"

"Pikachu and Fearow should be all I need." Ash answered. "But you should prepare Gouzatile just in case." Aaron suggested, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You never know what might happen."

"I guess you're right…"

Eventually afterwards, the whole gang woke up and collaborated at the lobby of the Pokemon Center. Ian was the last person to arrive. He did so with a tired yawn, "Morning, ya'll…" "Morning, Ian." Everyone greeted the Ghost-type specialist. "And so, a very busy day begins." Ian said as he took a seat at the table the gang collaborated in. "Yeah, a bunch of contests and a bunch of gym battles." Jimmy said and then took a sip of soda. "So how's that going to fit in the schedule?" Dawn asked as she cuddled her Buneary. Aaron spoke up, "Well, Firguson City will be holding three official contests in a row." "Uh, in case you haven't noticed, Aaron," Ian interrupted, "there's four coordinators here."

"Then I'm afraid one of us will be losing."

"Which will be Ian."

"Be quiet, Dawn!"

Aaron chuckled, "OK, continuing. I talked to Marina earlier today and she said she'll do three gym battles today for me, Ash, and Jimmy." Jimmy interjected, "If no one minds, I'll do mine last." "I call first!" Ash exclaimed. Aaron exhaled sharply, "Then I guess I'll be second in line. Now, what about the contests?"

"I vote for Aaron to participate in the last contest." Ian opined.

"What, why?"

"Cuz, I'm sure that Dawn and May don't want to lose to you anymore and I damn sure don't want to."

"Ian's got a point, I guess." May and Dawn stated simultaneously. "All right, all right. I'll go last in my contest and I'll go second in my gym battle." Aaron announced. "Now for the remaining two slots." Ian said. "Dibs on the first one!" May exclaimed. Ian's mouth was agape. He was going to call for the first constant and the Petalburg resident shot down his hopes. His head met the table in defeat. May giggled triumphantly. "Well, looks like you'll be losing to me, Ian." Dawn said with a smirk. Ian's head shot right back up, "We'll see when I'm in the winner's circle."

"Ash, Marina's at the gym right now, go ahead and get your match done." Aaron told the younger trainer. "OK. Let's go, Pikachu." Ash said as he rose from his seat. "Hold up, Ash, did you get the chance to train your Pokemon for the match?" Misty questioned, halting Ash's advancements. "She's right, Ash." Aaron concurred, "Do you have a strategy going into this match?" "Yeah, I do. No need to worry." Ash stated ,flashing a reassuring smile. He and Pikachu then proceeded to exit out of the Pokemon Center. "That's the devil's catchphrase." Ian remarked with his head nonchalantly lying on the palm of his hand. "Hey, it's _my _catchphrase." Dawn piped in. "There's a difference?" Ian joked in reply. Dawn simply huffed and pouted. She was _so _going to get him back at the contest.

**At the Gym**

Ash approached and stared the Firguson Gym confidently. He was definitely ready to challenge Marina, and he was ready to win. He couldn't let Gary get ahead of him. After all, Ash had to deliver some payback from losing to Gary five years ago. Putting the everlasting rivalry behind for the moment, the raven-haired valiantly entered the establishment. Upon entry, he was greeted with an azure milieu; blue seats, blue walls, blue floor, and a beautiful, sparkling blue pool with small blue circular platforms located randomly in the pool.

"Marina?" Ash called out. His voice echoed across throughout the gym. You could mistake it for being abandoned. "Oh come on…" Ash groaned as he approached the pool. "MARINA!" He called out even louder this time. Still no response, just louder echoes. Pikachu's ears suddenly twitch because of a nearby disturbance. "Pika?" Pikachu squeaked in question. The disturbance was a small tremor that made small waves in the pool. "What's going on?" Ash questioned in wonder. He looked around for any possible causes.

The cause then made itself known in entirety. A Gyarados surfaced from the pool, roaring in agitation. Ash and Pikachu screamed in fear. The Gyarados leered at them viciously, its eyes practically bloodshot for some reason. "Um, Pikachu? Ya think my voice ticked it off?" Ash asked, trembling in fear. "P-pika…" Pikachu responded, too scared to react.

"Gyarados!" a feminine voice called out. The Atrocious Pokemon's mean streak immediately stopped at the sound of its trainer. Marina finally appeared in the vicinity, her outfit different from the jumpsuit she wore at yesterday's show. It seemed to be based off the characteristics of a Dialga's body. Her top resembled another jumpsuit, having a red gemstone design located where her sternum was and metallic silver lines on her sleeves. From bottoms, she was wearing swim-pants with grey stripes. Her outfit was generally the same shade of blue as Dialga's skin.

"Did Ash and Pikachu wake you up?" Marina asked placing her hands on her hips. Gyarados glared at the two in question and nodded. "Oh, stop it, Gyarados." Marina demanded. The Water/Flying-type "sighed" in defeat. "Here." Marina pulled a Pokeball and enlarged it, "You can sleep in here all you want." An infrared beam recalled Gyarados into the red and white mechanism. Ash and Pikachu exhaled in relief. They were spared from a Gyarados's rage.

"So I can guess why you two are here." Marina stated as she approached the male and his mouse pokemon. "Oh yeah, my gym battle." Ash stated raising a determined fist. "Pika pika." "I figured as much." Marina said, "OK then, you're on."

Marina and Ash stood on their respective podiums overlooking the battlefield. A referee was on a judge's podium on the side of the pool. "This is an official three-on-three Firguson City Gym Battle. A trainer wins when all three pokemon of their opponent's are rendered defeated. Only the challenge is allowed to make substitutions." The referee informed. "Yes sir." Marina and Ash responding staring each other down.

Although it seemed they and the ref was the only ones present, they actually had an audience. Aaron leaned against the wall near the exit to the gym. His eyes intently examined the ensuing battle as if he were studying for a test. Magnezone was right there beside him. Its single red eye was examining the ensuing battle as well. "Begin the battle!" The ref notified, raising the flags in reach of his hands.

"OK! Fearow, I choose you!" Ash threw out his chosen pokeball. The mechanism sent out the large sparrow, Fearow. "Alrighty, Kingdra! Come on out!" Marina threw out her pokeball and it sent out the Water/Dragon-type pokemon, Kingdra. "Oh, man, a Kingdra." Ash said watching the Dragon Pokemon stay motionless in the pool, "Haven't battled one of those in a while."

"Here we go. Kingdra, Dragonbreath!" Marina commanded. "Dyoo!" Kingdra inhaled a large amount of air and then exhaled a beam of green flames from the tip of its nose. "Dodge it, Fearow! And then use Sky Attack!" Ash commanded. Fearow squawked mightily and evaded the Dragonbreath. Then, its whole body become alit with ivory and dive-bombed straight to Kingdra. "Go underwater." Marina ordered. Kingdra immediately dived into the opaque depths of the pool. Fearow immediately stopped its attack, not wanting to get drenched by the pool water and because it's never a bird's nature to get wet. "Now, use Dragonbreath again." From the same spot that it submerged it, Kingdra reappeared and fired another beam of green flames. This time, Fearow was hit by the attack and the large sparrow pokemon was blown back to a nearby platform.

"Come on, Fearow." Ash encouraged, "Get back up and use Hyper Beam!" Shaking off the minor damage, Fearow took flight once again and unleashed a yellow and orange energy beam from its beak at Kingdra. "You know the drill, Kingdra." Marina said with a grin while crossing her arms. The Water/Dragon-type dived into the profundities of the pool once more. The Hyper Beam wound up hitting nothing but the very surface. Ash gritted his teeth and growled audibly. _"Fearow's at a disadvantage, it can't hit Kingdra all that much." _He thought.

"Hydro Pump." Marina commanded. Fearow expected Kingdra to appear in its sight like last time, but when it was suddenly hit by a great impact from behind, it's thought process was immediately eliminated. And when the bird hit another platform, any afterthoughts were shattered as well. "Man, that was fast!" Ash remarked. "Pika…" Pikachu said in worry. The Hydro Pump Kingdra was commanded to use was discharged from the depths of the pool, and the position in which it was fired from was directly behind Fearow. Marina chuckled, almost sinisterly, and said, "How are you going to hit what you can't see?"

The raven-haired challenger ignored Marina and started to contemplate on the matters. _"Great, that Kingdra is going to stay in the water and Fearow can't do that much about it. I'll have to hit when it resurfaces." _Ash was going to issue another directive, but the Firguson Gym Leader beat him to it. "Dragon Dance!" Suddenly, a small orange glow appeared in a section of the pool (Kingdra). The Normal/Flying-type jumped to conclusions and assumed that its enemy just gave away its location for a free shot, but when the orange glow started to circle around the platform Fearow stood on, its assumption was thrown out the window. "What's it doing?" Ash mused as he scanned the occurrence.

"Twister." Marina commanded. The swimming pool suddenly began to stir ominously. Small waves and surges came about until they started to swirl in tandem. The platforms began to shift from their current positions, forcing Fearow to take flight uneasily. Subsequently, the gyrating orange glow combined with the watery swirl and started to create a globular water wall. The Dragon Dance-induced aquatic Twister engulfed Fearow. The attack started to rock the building and pool as if it possessed storm-like characteristics. Ash could only watch powerlessly as the Dragon Dance-induced water Twister slammed into the roof, leaving cracks in the hull and causing a downpour. The storm-like Twister finally halted by slamming onto a platform. Fearow had received the very bulk of the attack as it laid motionless on the platform, damp and injured.

The pool finally settled to its original state, no longer resembling that of a stormy hurricane center. Kingdra's head popped from underwater again to inspect the damages it caused. If it had a mouth, a triumphant smirk would be seen on it as it gawked at the fallen bird. "Not done yet." Ash stated, alerting the water-type gym leader. "Roost!" Strained, Fearow stood up on its talons and began to illuminate a sparkling white color. Just as quickly as it received the damage, Roost healed it off. Aaron, who was shaking off raindrops off his hat, grinned at this action and remarked, "Looks like that fiasco at Zumi Town taught him something."

"Ah, I'm rather impressed, Ash." Marina commented with a smile, "Shall we continue on?"

"You bet'cha."

"Kingdra, underwater now." Obeying its trainer, the Water/Dragon-type Pokemon immersed itself again. Both Ash and Fearow prepared themselves and scrutinized the vicinity intently to locate their foe. "Dragonbreath." From behind Fearow, Kingdra's head popped out and fired its attack. "Turn around and counter with Giga Impact!" Ash ordered. Fearow suddenly had a torpedo-shaped, yellow and orange aura encompass it. Turning around, the Fearow immediately shot itself toward the Dragonbreath. Of course, Giga Impact clearly had more power and easily pierced through the flames. Gasping, Marina quickly ordered, "Go back underwater and dodge!" Too late. Giga Impact hit Kingdra directly on the top of its head before it had the chance to dive. A plume of water resulted from the impact and almost drenched both Ash and Marina.

The results; Kingdra laid motionless on top of the water with swirls of discontinuity in its eyes. Fearow hovered above the fallen sea serpent, victorious and drenched. "Kingdra is unable to battle!" the referee declared, raising the flag being held in his right arm, "The winner is Fearow!"

"ALRIGHT!" Ash exclaimed happily. "Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed, just as elated. Fearow squawked, in a tone similar to chucking, and perched on the platform nearest to its trainer.

Marina recalled Kingdra back into its Pokeball, "You were great, Kingdra. Take a break." She then got out a different Pokeball and threw it, "Let's go, Kingler!" A giant red crab with an enormously large right claw became visible after it came out of its Pokeball. "Koki! Koki!" Kingler spoke as it snapped both of its different-sized claws. "Oh, sweet, Kingler." Ash remarked as he examined the crab pokemon. He reminisced the all times that his Krabby/Kingler assisted him in battle. "Well, anyway, get ready, Fearow!" The bird pokemon took flight again in response to its trainer.

"Begin the battle!" "All right, Fearow, let's use Giga Impact!" Ash commanded. The golden aura of energy enveloped Fearow once again and it charged at the Kingler stationed at the platform to its trainer. Marina a wayward smirk on her face and commanded, "Rock Slide." Kingler's eyes suddenly lit up in a sandy brown color. Out of nowhere, glowing boulders of the same color of Kingler's eyes cascaded down upon Fearow. The Rock Slide ended Fearow's Giga Impact and the heavy weight caused it to fall directly into the pool. Pikachu and Ash gasped in horror.

"Go in after it." Marina commanded with that grin still stretched across her. Kingler crab-walked its way to the edge of the platform and jumped into the water. In the water, Fearow was clearly in pain as madly and desperately flailed around. It was clearly at a high disadvantage. To add to its dismay, Kingler was approaching. Fearow tried to change its wallowing into swimming attempts, but its wings were not adjusted to this kind of situation. From the muffled fathoms of the pool, Kingler could make out the next order from its trainer. It was told to use Strength. Kingler extended its colossal right claw to Fearow and grabbed its beak, bringing forth more measures of struggle from its opponent. Kingler, even through the aquatic densities, used its claw's great power to hurl Fearow through the water and at the nearest platform. The force caused the platform to flip over. The underside suddenly became the visible side and it revealed a soaking wet, exhausted Fearow. Kingler hop out of the water and onto a platform, flexing its claws.

"Come on, Fearow!" Ash coached, "Get up and use Roost!" Painstakingly, Fearow got up, calmed its nerves, and commenced Roost's healing process. "I don't think so," Marina interjected, "Rock Slide!" Kingler's eyes once became a bright sandy brown color. The boulders of the same color appeared over Fearow's head and began to fall to it. "Back off and use Hyper Beam!" Ash ordered quickly catching this occurrence. After successfully using Roost to heal off a sum of damage, Fearow flapped its mighty wings to have the force make it back away. The Rock Slide wound it up colliding on the platform. Then, an orange and yellow beam of energy pierced through the rocks and headed straight to Kingler. Surprised, Kingler was rendered unable to move and was struck by Hyper Beam. The large red crab fell back into the pool with a splash.

The Normal/Flying-type Pokemon hovered over to the nearest platform and landed on it to rest. Marina saw this and took the opportunity to initiate her plan, "Brine." Suddenly, from the stillness of the water, two energy plumes surged straight to Fearow. They collided onto Fearow, creating a large plume of foam. "Fearow!" Ash called out in concern. The residual water died away to revealed a KO'd Fearow. "Fearow is unable to battle! Kingler is the winner!" The ref officiated raising the flag in his left arm. "All right!" Marina exclaimed blithely, "Great job, Kingler!" "Koki, koki, ko."

Ash recalled its fallen pokemon back into its Pokeball. "You were great. Take a break." Ash remarked softly to the Pokeball. He then looked at his long-loved partner on the ground near his foot and said, "You ready Pikachu?" He asked. "Pika." Pikachu responded determinedly and hopped onto a platform nearest to his trainer's podium. Kingler returned to a platform nearest to its trainer's podium and stared down its opponent. The two pokemon stood there patiently, awaiting the orders from their trainer.

"Begin the battle!" The referee initiated. "All right, Pikachu, Thunderbolt." Ash commanded. The electric mouse leaped up, produced electricity in its red cheeks, and released the massive amount toward Kingler. "Into the water to dodge!" Marina ordered. The red crab immediately jumped into the pool, avoiding the deadly Thunderbolt. Ash growled in frustration. Flabbergasted, Pikachu landed on a platform and frantically examined its surroundings. "Ice Claw." Marina uttered inaudibly. Kingler heard its trainer's order and its giant red claw suddenly transformed into an icy blue claw. Noticing a platform move slightly on the surface, Kingler swam over to that certain platform and jabbed the Ice Claw at it. The platform immediately froze into a circular piece of ice.

On the surface, when Pikachu saw the rapid change occurring, he became even more confused. But, his instincts allowed him to evade it. The Electric-type made it safely to another platform; however, the platform started to congeal as well. So, Pikachu constantly jumped to different platforms to try and avoid freezing up like the previous platforms. Eventually, Pikachu landed on the final platform not subject to freezing. That status was short-lived. The platform froze over again and, this time, Pikachu could not evade this fully. Its zigzag-shaped tail froze, prompting the mouse to hop off the platform and onto the rim of the pool. Pikachu shivered in hurt from the painfully chilly sensations his frozen-solid tail provided.

"OK, time to finish this!" Marina stated, "Kingler, Brine!" Kingler, while still underwater, extended its claw outward. They gained a luminescent blue hue. Above water, two plumes of foam appeared and surged straight into Pikachu. Ash saw this and immediately became alarmed. His mind raced frantically to try and find a liable counter. Inspiration finally came, "Pikachu, put your tail in the water and use Thunderbolt!" He commanded. Pikachu put his frozen solid into the pool and released another jolt of electricity. The Thunderbolt coursed throughout the pool, evaporating the plumes created by Brine and shocking Kingler underwater.

After the attack ceased, Kingler motionlessly floated to the surface. Swirls of discontinuity were present in its eyes as residual electricity crackled on its body. "Kingler is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" "Hell yeah!" Ash screamed out in joy. Pikachu did the same and pulled its tail out of the water, now back to its original state. Marina recalled Kingler back into its Pokeball. "Great job, Kingler. Enjoy your rest." Marina whispered tenderly and then pulled out another Pokeball. _"I bet'cha that's her Tralin. I gotta be careful…" _Ash thought. "Go!" Marina threw out her last Pokeball for the match. The red and white device popped open and white radiance materialized a blue dog-like Pokemon with a dorsal fin-like mane and a mermaid-like tail. "Vaporean." The pokemon chimed as it stood valiantly on the platform nearest to its trainer. Ash blinked in surprise, _"I could've sworn she was gonna use Tralin."_

"_I wonder…what are you going to do now, Ash?" _Aaron thought. He was rather impressed at Ash's battling so far. Also, it was helping him conjure up strategies he could use in the long run and in his gym battle with Marina that would happen later today. "All right, Ash, just because I'm down to one last pokemon, don't think for a second that I'm out now." Marina said. "Don't worry, that's the last thing on my mind." Ash reassured.

"Begin the battle!" "Vaporean, jump into the water and use Acid Armor!" Marina commanded immediately after the ref's words. The Bubble Jet Pokemon hopped into the water and its whole body suddenly liquefied. The Water-type used its signature ability to blend into the water, leaving it completely invisible to Pikachu's eyes. "Oh, man, that's Vaporean's special ability." Ash mused grimly. Marina's previous actions were taken to a whole new level with Vaporean. "Shadow Ball!" As soon as the Gym Leader's order was verbalized, balls of darkness were shot out of the pool and at Pikachu. "Dodge 'em!" Ash commanded urgently. The electric mouse skipped from platform to platform, evading the Ghost-type attack.

"Brine!" Now, instead of Shadow Balls, plumes of foam constantly shook the pool as they surged to wherever Pikachu was currently stationed at. Ash instructed mouse to keep dodging every plume that came his way. However, one certain plume that was heading toward Pikachu managed to recourse its path. "Iron Tail!" That same plume revealed to have Vaporeon hidden in its foamy content. The Water-type's mermaid-like tail illuminated an ivory color and it swished it at Pikachu. The electric mouse was hit with the brunt of it and flew straight into the water as a result.

Pikachu slowly descended down the depths with slight pain searing on its back from the impact. When it finally ignored the pain, it realized it was underwater. So, it tried to swim back to the surface. But then, it saw Vapoareon diving into the water and using its trademark ability to "disappear" in the aquatic environment. The mouse pokemon to hurriedly scurry to the surface before it could become trapped in Vaporeon's watery web.

Too late.

Suddenly, Shadow Balls began to rock the waters as they rocketed toward Pikachu. The Electric-type began to swim to avoid the onslaught, but clearly being inept to these kinds of environment, several Shadow Balls nailed Pikachu. Each blow subtracted the amount of breath Pikachu had held in its lungs. Vaporean finished its invisible assault with a thunderous Iron Tail, making the pool shiver as if it had experienced the blow itself. The Electric-type was sent above surface and landed on the nearest platform, coughing heavily. "Pikachu, you OK?" Ash asked in high alarm. "Pika…" Pikachu responded softly. As low as it was, the mouse was still in shape to battle, but for how long was the question.

"OK," Ash started, "since Vaporeon is hiding itself in the water, let's use Thunderbolt on the water to reveal its location." Nodding, Pikachu jabbed its tail to the surface and released heavy voltage into it. The pool, once again, was stricken with high static electricity. Every single H20 molecule was taken over by electrical energy. The electricity built up in a certain spot on the surface. A fixed, way aura was the source. It solidified to reveal Vaporeon receiving a great shock. "All right!" Ash exclaimed in joy, seeing this as an opportunity, "use Volt Tackle!" Pikachu enveloped itself in a massive electrical aura and jumped straight to the Bubble Jet Pokemon.

"Hurry and use Brine to protect yourself!" Shaking off the electricity, Vaporeon's onyx eyes became alit with sapphire, plumes of foam suddenly surrounded it. The foam possessed the residual amounts of electricity from Pikachu's Thunderbolt. The Volt Tackle collided onto Brine, halting any progress because the remaining electrical energy provided a sort of barrier for Vaporeon. "Not finished yet!" Ash declared heatedly, "Use Iron Tail to break through!" "Two can play at that game, Ash! Vaporeon, use Iron Tail!"

In the midst of its Volt Tackle, Pikachu's zigzag-shaped tail illuminated an ivory color, forming the patented "Volt Tail" attack. Vaporeon hopped from where it was standing on the surface and its mermaid-shaped tail illuminated as well. Both Pikachu and Vaporeon swung their tails at exactly the same time. The Water-type borrowed some of the electrical form protecting itself to empower the Iron Tail. Pikachu's Volt Tail ripped through the foam only to the meet Vaporeon's electrically charged Brine Tail. They clashed and the result was almost catastrophic.

An explosion occurred by the mixture of hard contact and molecular disorder. It made the pool seem as if it was being rocked by a Category-5 hurricane. Ash and Marina shielded themselves from the immense amount of force exerted by the explosion. Eventually, the chaos died down to revealed to fainted Pokemon idly laying on the surface. "Both Pikachu and Vaporeon are unable to battle! This round results in a draw!" The referee officiated, this time holding up both flags. Despite this round was a draw, Ash still had another Pokemon ready to battle, but Marina didn't. "But because the Gym Leader has used up all of her Pokemon and the challenger has one left," the referee then held the up the right flag in his right hand, "Ash Ketchum is the winner!"

The raven-haired leaped in joy at the announcement of his victory. He had achieved his first official victory in the Tenla Region. Now putting aside his cheering, the male trainer hopped off to podium and onto the platforms until he was in close proximity of his best Pokemon. He kneeled down on the edge of the platform, extended his hands and arms, grabbed Pikachu, and brought it close to him. "Hey, you OK?" Ash asked. "Pika…" Pikachu droned tiredly. "You did good, thank you, Pikachu." Ash acknowledged appreciatively. Marina recalled Vaporeon into the Pokeball and whispered similar words of acknowledgement into the device. She then stepped off her podium and went to the sidelines to encounter Ash drying off his partner.

"Ash, that was probably the best gym battle I've gotten so far!" Marina declared enthusiastically. Ash diverted his gaze to meet Marina's and said, "Thanks, and back at you for giving a taste of Tenla." "OK, since I lost, I'm suppose to award you this…" The aquamarine-haired gym leader said. The referee approached her with a box in his hands. Marina opened the box and took out something. It was a small pin, resembling the shape of a snowflake. It was a deep blue, almost like the vast oceans. In the center was something that seemed like a water drop. "Allow me to award the Aqua Badge." She said as he handed the trainer his newly acquired Aqua Badge. Ash, elated tremendously, exclaimed, "ALL RIGHT! I got an Aqua Badge!" "Pika Pika!"

"Well, you go rest easy, Ash." The Water-type trainer recommended, "As for me, I gotta get ready for two more battles today." Both Ash and Marina nervously sweatdropped and chuckled. The Kanto resident then noticed something from the corner of his eye. "Speaking of battles, you're next challenger was watching." He said. Marina blinked, puzzled by Ash's statement. The male titled his head to the direction of the exit. Following the direction, the gym leader saw what Ash was referring to; Aaron was standing there, or rather leaning against the stands, for another second and then stood straight up to turn around and leave. "Oh…" Marina responded. She inaudibly gulped. Ash was a challenge himself, now she had to battle someone that she knew had more experience than Ash _and _herself.

Aaron sauntered away from the Firguson City Gym. As he did so, the strategies that were recently concocted piled up in his mind, ready to be unleashed in his upcoming gym battle. _"You better get ready to do some homework, Ash, because I already did." _He thought as a confident smirk crept up on his face


	11. Staying Calm During the Storm

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Staying Calm During The Storm**

"And the winner of the Firguson Contest is May!" The announcement echoed throughout the large Contest Hall. The rowdy applause and roars of praise afterwards practically shook the building as May, sporting her peach Arabian genie-like outfit, held up the silver and turquoise Contest Ribbon. The content of the ribbon shone when the spotlights were directed upon it. May herself was just as radiant as the milieu she currently dwelled in. She just earned her first Tenla ribbon and was one step further to access of the Tenla Grand Festival.

After some minutes, May changed to her traveling attire and walked out to the lobby. There, Misty, Yoshino, and Marina (coordinator) were reunited with her. "That was fabulous, May." Marina complimented. "Thank you. Now, I have my first Tenla Region ribbon." May stated as she held up the ribbon. "Ooooh~ Pretty~" Marina commented as she gazed at the Firguson Contest Ribbon with her eyes shimmering in awe. Suddenly, Brock, Jimmy, and Dawn burst through the Contest Hall's front doors.

"Hey, Misty!"

"Yo, Marina!"

"May! Over here!"

The three called out to their friends respectively. May, Misty, Marina, and Yoshino looked over to the recently-entered trio and walked over to them. "What's up, guys?" May asked. "Come on," Jimmy commanded, "Ash said Aaron is about to do his Gym Battle with Marina."

Dawn suddenly felt glee course up through her body. The last time she saw Aaron in a Gym Battle ever since the Oreburgh Gym. Now, she couldn't wait to relieve the opportunity. May also had glee flow in her being. It's been a considerable amount since she's last seen Aaron's battle style; not only that, when her dad, Norman, had told May of Aaron's strength, she had a lingering desire to see him in a gym battle. Marina had both glee and interest racing through her mentality. She would get another chance to see her "teacher" get things gone. Misty admittedly had the least amount of interest, yet if Aaron was a Pokemon Trainer, he had to have conquered the Kanto Region and the Cerulean and Pewter Gyms. So, she was going to anticipate this battle as well.

**At the Gym**

Aaron stood on the podium overlooking the swimming pool battlegrounds. On the opposite side of the pool, Marina (gym leader) was doing the same. In the stands, Ash and Ian watched the battle with anxiety evident in their countenance. Ash needed to pay attention to Aaron carefully. After all, he lost to Aaron on every occasion they fought, most notably at the Sinnoh Pokemon League. Ian was also watching carefully as he experienced the same slump as Ash.

"Hey, guys." A voice greeted from the entrance of the gym. Ian and Ash looked to see their whole group of friends approaching them. "Hey." They responded simultaneously. "Looks like we're just in time." Brock, taking his seat, said as he examined the battlefield and its battlers. "This ought be cool." Jimmy remarked.

"This is an official Firguson Gym Battle; Aaron, the challenger, vs. Marina, the gym battle. This is a three-on-three battle that will end when all three pokemon are rendered unable to continue. Only the challenger may make substitutions." The ref proclaimed the rules proudly.

"Right…" Aaron said in a hushed tone. "Yes, sir." Marina (gym leader) replied in a more stout tone. "Now, call out your Pokemon!"

"Kingdra, come on out!" Marina (gym leader) threw out a red and white mechanism into the battlegrounds. It popped open and the same Kingdra from Ash's battle spawned from the white light. The Water/Dragon-type stayed motionless in the pool, awaiting the appearance of its opponent. "Scizor, game on." Aaron tossed his chosen pokeball into the pool and it materialized the burgundy Bug/Steel-type. "Scizor…" Scizor landed on one of the platforms, kneeling with one of its arm resting on the knee.

"Oh, look, it's Kingdra again." Ash said to himself as he eyed the Water/Dragon-type stay completely still in the pool. "Pika…" Pikachu piped in from his shoulders.

"Begin the battle!"

"You may have the first move, Marina." Aaron announced. Marina (gym leader) blinked in uncertainty. Usually, it would be the challenger to go first, but the challenger was offering the gym leader to go first. "Uhh..OK." Marina responded unsurely. "Kingdra, Dragonbreath." As soon as the command was proclaimed, Kingdra fired a beam of green, draconic flames at Scizor. "Dodge." Aaron commanded. At amazing agility, Scizor hopped off its platform and landed on another. The Dragonbreath missed its mark completely, almost as if it was aiming at nothing. "Wow. What speed." Misty commented in awe. Never had she, nor anyone else, seen a Scizor move so fast. "I know, but the odd thing is that Scizors aren't supposed to be that agile." Brock remarked. "You'll only see that with Aaron's Scizor, my friends." Ian said, smirking.

"Silver Wind." Aaron commanded crossing his arms. The Pincer Pokemon's two-lobed wings illuminated in an ivory color and released a gust of shiny silvery scales at Kingdra. "Go underwater!" Marina commanded hastily. The Dragon Pokemon immediately ducked under the surface to avoid the Silver Wind. The impact simply made the surface sway harmlessly. Scizor landed on a platform and began to scrutinize the arena cautiously. "Hydro Pump!" From the waters behind Scizor, a large gush of spiral water shot from them and connected straight onto its back. The Pincer Pokemon immediately cringed on the impact of the powerfully cold gush of water and was blown off the platform it stood on. Quickly regaining its balance, Scizor landed on another platform, but was then greeted by another Hydro Pump.

"Dodge 'em all!" Aaron ordered, his eyes intently scanning something. Scizor quickly began to hop from platform to platform in an effort to avoid being hit with another Hydro Pump. Each time Scizor landed on a platform after dodging, another Hydro Pump would immediately be discharged from the water at different angles. As this process continued, Aaron continued to scan the area intently. Just what was going through his mind? Finally, after what seemed to be minutes, Aaron ordered, "Stop dodging and use Protect!" Obeying its order, Scizor paused at the dais it currently stood. As it did, a Hydro Pump appeared from the waters directly in front of it. Scizor then put its arms in front of it protectively and a green dome appeared, matching the circumference of the dais, to block the spiraling gush.

"I must commend you…" Aaron suddenly spoke, "you're using the swimming pool to your advantage, a very decent tactic fitting for a Water-type gym leader." Marina once again blinked in ambiguity at the sudden speech. Regardless, she responded, "Um, thanks, I guess…"

"With that in mind, I believe all Water-types have a sort of sensory ability?" Aaron said, a smirk gracing his physiognomy. Instead of blinking, Marina's eyes narrowed in alarm. Where was he getting with this? Aaron's eyes closed, not in intimidation of Marina's sudden narrowing of eyes, but in thought. He then continued, "And that sensory ability that your Kingdra is exactly how it is locating my Scizor. Not to mention my Pokemon are casting a shadow across the surface whenever they jumped."

Marina blanched.

Aaron reopened his eyes with his smirk widening even more, "The platforms reverberate slightly on the surface of the water every time Scizor jumps onto one. Kingdra, and I assume the remainder of your Water-types, uses its sensory ability to detect that and discover where my Pokemon is on the surface. Because of such, their attacks pinpoint onto their targets with deadly accuracy."

Ash gasped slightly. He remembered the same tactics Kingdra did on his Fearow and then Kingler on Pikachu. It would explain how Kingler's Ice Claw managed to follow Pikachu's platform jumping, and how Kingdra was able to discover Fearow's location. "How did…" Dawn gaped in absolute shock, "he figure _that_ out?" Max took a good look at Marina (gym leader)'s expression and concluded, "And judging by Marina's reaction, Aaron hit the jackpot."

"Now," Aaron said again, "to counter that strategy is the question…" Marina (gym leader)'s expression resembled that of when someone would witness ghosts in a dark room. From the first time in her occupation as Firguson city Gym Leader, someone figured out and derived her most damaging Water-type strategy. Her prediction was exact; she was battling someone with more experience than Ash. And she was not that prepared for it.. "Metal Claw!" Her opponent's next commanded snap her out of her stupor. Scizor's claws became illuminated in ivory and Marina (gym leader) had not noticed Kingdra's head was peeking through the surface. "Back into the water!" Marina commanded. Before Scizor could pounce on Kingdra, the latter dove back into the safe depths of the pool.

Aaron's smirk did not falter at all, "Follow its shadow and go in after it!" Locating the Dragon Pokemon's shadow, the Pincer Pokemon jump off its dais and entered the water. A silent, collective gasp escaped the lips of everyone (except Aaron) in the gym. "OK, that was ballsy." Ian remarked, "But Aaron isn't suppose to be that ballsy."

"Yeah," Jimmy concurred, "I wouldn't let my Pokemon dive after a Water-type for a million bucks."

The Water/Dragon-type pokemon in the pool thought it was safe in the confines of the aquatic environment. However, it then caught a glimpse of Scizor swimming toward. Surprise and astonishment took over Kingdra so much that it was unable to prevent the barrage of Metal Claw pounding away at its body. The damage began to pile up as the Steel-type attack continued to lay waste on it light blue body. Even with the upper hand, Scizor felt the requirement of oxygen summoning, so it delivered one last Metal Claw, in the form of an uppercut, which sent Kingdra flying out of the water. "DYOOOO!" Kingdra screamed as it was ejected into the air from that last Metal Claw. Scizor followed up shortly by jumping out of the water and landing on the nearest platform, panting to receive as much oxygen as possible.

"Kingdra, get yourself together and use Hydro Pump again!" Marina commanded with panic appearing ever so slightly. Kingdra looked down to caught Scizor in its sight and was preparing to release another deadly Hydro Pump. "Grab its nose!" Aaron commanded. Kingdra pulled its back and thrust it forward in an attempt to discharge. However, it felt something pinch its long nostril tight. It was Scizor who had jumped an incredible height to get to where Kindgra was in the air. The Dragon Pokemon's began to inflate from the water building up in its body, it needed to release Hydro Pump FAST! "Throw it!" Aaron ordered. Scizor, while it and Kingdra were finally falling from the air, span Kingdra around by the nose. The rotation caused the Water/Dragon-type to become dizzy, adding to the list of current ailments already inflicting it. When they approached the pool ever so closely, Scizor slammed Kingdra on the surface, releasing its lengthy nostril in the process. The force created from the slam and the release of its nose caused the Hydro Pump to explode out of Kingdra, resulting in a watery cataclysm.

Water splashed everyone in the vicinity. Aaron had to maneuver himself to evade getting wet. Marina (gym leader) made no effort and let the water splash on her. Ash, Ian, and Jimmy, since they were in the front row, got drenched the most. Dawn and May had their hair soaked only because they hid behind Ash and Jimmy. Misty let herself get splashed. Marina (coordinator) maneuvered herself so that she was the only person not to get wet. Max and Brock had only a thick line of wetness to grace their shirt and pants.

When everything finally settled, Kingdra floated lifelessly on the surface with swirls in its eyes, signaling a discontinuity to battle. Scizor kneeled on the platform adjacent to Kingdra, smirking and its metallic exoskeleton slick from the water. "Kingdra is unable to battle!" The ref officiated, holding up a flag in his right hand. "The victor is Scizor!"

Aaron chuckled triumphantly as leaned against the [dry] railing of his podium as Scizor back-flipped to the dais nearest to its trainer's podium. Marina (gym leader) recalled her fallen Kingdra into its Pokeball. "Thank you, Kingdra…" She thanked softly.

"As messy a battle that was," Ian remarked, wringing the excess dampness out of his royal purple cape, "Aaron did amazing."_"Then again, Aaron ALWAYS was amazing."_ Ian mentally added._  
_

"I'll say." Jimmy concurred, flinging his cap in a forward direction to deplete the wetness in it. "To figure what made Marina's pokemon tick like that in a short amount of time is amazing." Misty complimented brushing off water droplets from her orange hair. "But how did he is the question?" Dawn mused aloud while brushing her damp blue hair.

"Because Aaron knows what he's doing…" A semi-emotionless tone answered. Everyone looked over to the exit/entrance to see Paul standing there, watching the battle intently. "Oh, hey, Paul…" Ash greeted with his tone descended. "Hello, loser." Paul responded not looking over to the group. "What are you doing here?" Dawn asked. "Watching Aaron battle, duh." The purple-haired trainer snapped back. Dawn huffed and pouted, not wanting to talk to him further. "Paul, what do you mean?" Ash inquired. "Aaron is a better trainer than you, Ash. He always has something up his sleeves. _Always_. And you just saw crystal-clear proof." Paul explained. Ash fell silent. Although he did not want to admit it, Aaron was indeed a better trainer than him…But he would soon change that one day and that procedure starts one step at a time. So, the raven-haired trainer continued to spectate Aaron's battle.

"Poliwrath, let's go!" Marina (gym leader) sent out her next pokemon, the blue and white /Water-/Fighting-type Poliwrath. "Hmm, both a Water and Fighting-type, eh?" Aaron stated and pulled out Scizor's Pokeball. "Return." A red infrared beam recalled Scizor back into the gadget as he pulled out another Pokeball. "Mawile, game on!" Aaron threw out the next Pokeball and it released the second pure Steel-type in existence, Mawile. The Deceiver Pokemon gracefully twirled in the air and landed on the platform nearest to its trainer, emanating its true aura of beauty and cuteness. "Aww, so cute!" May commented in an infatuated tone. "I _love _how well-kept Mawile seems." Dawn remarked in the same condition as May. "Something that cute has got to be contest-exclusive!" Marina (coordinator) complimented with pink hearts replacing her irises.

"But that's an odd switch Aaron made." Max stated, pushing his glasses with his index finger, "Scizor had Bug-type characteristics which would negate Poliwrath's secondary Fighting-type. With Mawile, Marina could exploit Mawile's Fighting-type weakness to the fullest."

"You're right, Max." Ian agreed but then said, "However, Mawile wasn't in the order of Pokemon Aaron told me he was going to use."

"So there's no doubt Aaron must have a plan." Ash said, "because his Mawile wasn't in the order he told me as well."

Marina (gym leader) couldn't help but feel captivated at the cute appearance of Mawile, she deduced it had to have been female and required special needs that Aaron was glad to provide. But she remembered Mawile was the _Deceiver _Pokemon, so it must have deadly skills that were concealed by her charms. "Begin the battle!" the referee signaled, raising both flags. "Poliwrath, uses Surf!" Marina commanded. "Poliwarth!" The Tadpole Pokemon's eyes lit up in an azure hue and a tidal wave suddenly appeared behind it. Neither Aaron or Mawile made any efforts as they watched Surf approach them. The tidal wave finally connected onto where Mawile was. No one had saw Mawile move from its spot at all.

Well, everyone got their answer when Mawile's peapod-shaped second mouth appeared in front of the platform Poliwrath stood on. "Fire!" Aaron ordered. The jaws opened widely as orange yellow energy appeared in the throat of the second mouth. Poliwrath could only stare in horror as a deadly Hyper Beam was discharged straight at it. "POLI!" Poliwrath screamed in pain as the powerful Hyper Beam whisked it straight to the metallic proof with a small explosion. The beam subsided and the Water/Fighting-type fell from the roof and landed on the platform with a thud. Mawile swam to a different platform and jumped onto it.

"Come on, Poliwrath, get up." Marina pleaded encouragingly. The Tadpole Pokemon shook off the damage and stood back on its feet, ready to fight once more. "Now get into water!" Marina ordered. Although she was aware that Aaron figured out her strategy, she still was going to use it. Of course, she did manage to find a more different approach. "Thought so." Aaron stated matter-of-factly. "Freeze the water with Ice Beam!" Mawile turned and opened its huge peapod-like mouth. It then discharged a beam of icy energy. The Ice Beam's speed was faster than the Poliwrath. It connected the watery surface and froze the midsection of the pool. "Poli?" Poliwrath exclaimed in surprise. The Water/Fighting-type had already begun a dive into the water and, in the midst of that, the pool was frozen. The Tadpole Pokemon landed hard on its face.

Mawile proceeded to laugh hysterically, falling down on its platform clutching its guts. Aaron cackled silently to himself. Though, he stopped himself as to not make Marina feel bad and let Poliwrath keep whatever dignity it still had. Paul, Ian, and Jimmy started to laugh. Ash, May, Dawn, and Brock simply did sheepish expressions. Marina (coordinator), Max, and Misty only felt sorry for Poliwrath. "He can even make people look even more pathetic." Paul said, continuing his small laughter. Marina (gym leader), although not mortified, simply slapped her palm against her forehead. "Get up please." Marina (gym leader) requested to her Poliwrath.

Poliwrath finally got up and the injured spot on its head tenderly. A vein popped in its head when it saw Mawile laughing hysterically at the recent happening. "POLI!" It shrieked in embarrassment. The Steel-type stopped its laughter and got back up, ready to fight once more. Marina (gym leader) bit her bottom lip in worry. Just like that, her game plan been shut down. Seeing no other option, she resorted to a straightforward approach. "Poliwrath, Hypnosis!" The swirly wheel on Poliwrath's abdomen began to spin hypnotically. Unluckily for Mawile, she was staring straight into it and couldn't remove her eyes from the sight. Mawile immediately fell asleep on the platform. Aaron simply frowned at what happened. Knowing that it couldn't awaken Mawile in the middle of slumber, he patiently waited for awakening.

"Good. Poliwrath, break the ice with Dynamicpunch." Marina ordered, now calmer than before. Poliwrath's fist balled up and suddenly glowed whiter than the glove it wore. "POLI-" The Tadpole Pokemon had thrust its Dynamicpunch to the ice; however, glowing green blades of grass suddenly ensnared The Water/Fighting-type's arm and body. "WHAT THE-?" Marina (gym leader) shrieked in surprise. Another grin made its presence known on Aaron's face, "Looks like my Grass Knot trick worked." He announced. Poliwrath, even with its muscles, could not break away from its botanical ensnarement.

"What Grass Knot trick?" Marina exclaimed in question. "I never saw Mawile cast a Grass Knot!" Then, enlightenment suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. "Unless…"

"You guessed it. When Mawile used Ice Beam."

"_Thought so." Aaron stated matter-of-factly. "Freeze the water with Ice Beam!" Mawile turned and opened its huge peapod-like mouth. It then discharged a beam of icy energy. The Ice Beam's speed was faster than the Poliwrath. It connected the watery surface and froze the midsection of the pool. "Poli?" Poliwrath exclaimed in surprise. The Water/Fighting-type had already begun a dive into the water and, in the midst of that, the pool was frozen. The Tadpole Pokemon landed hard on its face._

"_Mawile, do your stuff and uses Grass Knot in the ice." Aaron commanded, so silent that no one could hear him. Mawile proceeded to laugh hysterically, falling down on its platform clutching its guts. While doing so and staying true to its nature, its closed eyes and the circle on its peapod-shaped second mouth became alit with an emerald color. Deep inside the ice, small glowing emerald seedlings began to form. Aaron cackled silently to himself, both at the secret success of his plan and Poliwrath's humiliation. _

Around this time, Mawile's eyes began to flicker open. "Maw?" She squeaked as she sat up fully awake. "Mawile," Aaron began pointing a finger at the trapped Poliwrath, "finish it off with Focus Punch." Mawile's right hand became enveloped in white, flowing steam and then balled it into a fist. The Deceiver Pokemon then jumped into the air spinning in a fetal position, uncurled, and dived at the trapped Poliwrath. "Maaaaaaww-!" Poliwrath looked at the descending Mawile eyes saucer-like eyes. This was gonna hurt indeed. "WILE!" Mawile slammed its Focus Punch into the middle of Poliwrath's hypnotic wheel with great force. So much that Mawile actually broke the ice for Poliwrath…except using latter's own body to do so.

The ice broke into many tiny slabs after the attack, scattering carelessly across the swimming pool. Poliwrath lied on a slab in the very middle of the pool with swirls in its eyes, matching the one already on its body. Mawile sat on the body of the Tadpole Pokemon with its legs cross cutely. "Poliwrath is unable to battle!" the ref again held up the flag in his right hand, "Mawile is the victor."

"Hmph. Looks like the cute thing packs an ugly punch." Paul humorously commented. Ash blinked at Paul's statement. Why was it that he was showing these forms of emotions during Aaron's battle? Just recently, he laughed, and not the usual way when he laughs in reprimand or sinisterly. He laughed as if he heard a side-splitting joke despite laughing at Poliwrath's pain. Now, he was acting as if he had hung out with the group. The raven-haired trainer deduced he possibly respected Aaron way more than he did with him. But he knew Paul had held a grudge against Aaron…

* * *

"_Torterra is unable to battle!" A loud voice over the intercom announced to the heavens. "The winner is Aaron of Metropolis Town!"_

_An eleven-year-old Paul, with utmost shock and disbelief, stared at his fallen Torterra. Across from it, a nonchalant Magneton dissipated the residual amounts of electricity present on its body and floated to its trainer, thirteen-year-old Aaron._

_This was the semifinals in the Sinnoh Pokemon League, Paul vs. Aaron, and the former had just experienced probably the worst beating he has suffered in a long time. Shakily, the violet-haired trainer recalled the giant Grass/Ground-type back into its Pokeball. "I'll deal with you later…" He spat words of venom into his fully evolved starter's pokeball._

_**-LATER-**_

_Aaron stood against a wall, watching his friends mingle with each other. He eyed two of them in particular, Ash and Ritchie. Two highly similar people that were set to battle in the next semifinal match ten minutes from now. He would have to face either one of them and their interesting Pikachus. _

_Then, a flash of violet invaded his vision. He turned his head to see Paul, with shadows covering his eyes, slowly sauntering past him. The hat-wearing strategist knew of Paul's preference for power and, quite frankly, he didn't like it. "Paul." He called, halting his recent opponent's movement. "First, I would like to say thanks for our battle, it was interesting to say the least."_

"_Hn…" Was all Paul said._

"_However, I would like to know why you use Pokemon for power…" Aaron started._

_Paul felt his arteries singe from the burning blood surging through him._

"_I mean, you're suppose to bond with your Pokemon. When you do, they will gradually get even more powerful. Take our battle for example. My Pokemon were strong as yours, but we prevailed because we bonded. If you were actually nice to your Pokemon and showed them some respect you could-"_

"_**SHUT UP!**__"_

_Paul's enrage voice surge throughout the whole lobby as an echo. All attention was immediately turned him. "You have no idea! _NO IDEA _what I've been through! I tried to bond with my Pokemon during the start of my journey even after my brother pathetically lost, _BUT _I had to learn the hard away! I went through a bad event, I went through hell! Now, I want you and Ash to shut up and __**LEAVE. ME. ALONE!**__"_

_With that rant, Paul stormed out the buiding, slamming the glass door behind him. Ash and Aaron sympathetically stared him. What was up with Paul now…?_

_

* * *

_

"Tralin, here we go!" Marina threw out her next pokeball and it released her signature pokemon, the Swordfish Pokemon, Tralin. "Slll! Tralin trilled as it landed in the water. Ash eliminated his flashback in order to pay attention to the battle again. "There's Tralin." Marina (coordinator) said. "This is about to be even more interesting." Ian said.

"Mawile, return." Aaron pulled out Mawile's Pokeball and recalled it back via infrared beam. He then took out another Pokeball and threw it, "Empoleon, game on." The red and white device popped open and white light materialized the Emperor Penguin, Empoleon. The Water/Steel-type landed on the platform nearest to its trainer and said nothing and stood coolly. "Oh, man, two Water-types in the same match." May stated. "I reiterate, this match shall be interesting." Ian said.

"Begin the battle."

"Tralin, charge at Empoleon." Marina commanded. "Sll!" Tralin, at high speeds, swam over to the platform Empoleon was stationed on. Empoleon held up its metallic fins in preparation. "Jump and use Flash!" Marina ordered when Tralin was close enough to the platform. The Swordfish Pokemon leapt out of the pool, directly in front of Empoleon, and its whole body shined brightly in rainbow-like colors.

The intensity of the assorted colors burned into Empoleon's vision, prompting it to shield its eyes with its own fins. Aaron became highly alert, "Keep your guard up, Empoleon!" He requested. Sadly, that would not work. The Emperor Pokemon was temporarily blinded and was at Tralin's mercy. "Ice Beam!" Marina commanded. Tralin, while still brightly illuminating, fired a beam of icy energy at the Water/Steel-type. Its metallic fins were immediately covered in ice. "Retreat into the water." Aaron ordered hastily. Gladly, Empoleon turned around and dove into the pool. Marina chuckled, almost sinisterly, and said, "Not gonna work. After it."

Tralin, with Flash still active, landed in the pool. Matters were made worse, every H20 molecule underneath the surface become enthralled in multihued colors. Empoleon's vision was even worse, including the fact it couldn't tell Tralin's whereabouts even more bit. "I wonder," Marina said as she examined the mottled swimming pool, "can you beat something you can't see?" Aaron gritted his teeth. Tralin's natural ability of lighting the seas was putting him and Empoleon at a high disadvantage. With that, the strategist couldn't see the gym leader's strategy if she wouldn't let him.

"Slash!" Tralin, blending into the colorful pool, swam rapidly over to Empoleon and began its Slash barrage. The initial start had it simply do a head-on Slash. When that connected onto Empoleon's steel exterior (leaving very minimal damage), the Swordfish Pokemon would reroute its course back to Empoleon and use Slash again. It continued this cycle for some time and the target could do nothing stop it. "Aaron's gotta do something or else Tralin's gonna mop the floor with all three of his pokemon." Jimmy said in worry. "I hope he can pull through…" Dawn said in worry as well. "Just watch." Ian recommended as his grey eyes continued to spectate the matter.

Finally, what was probably endless mind-racing, Aaron discovered a suitable outcome, Empoleon's new attack. "Empoleon, save yourself with Waterfall!" Aaron commanded. Empoleon's whole suddenly became alit with azure, contradicting the rainbow hues around him. Tralin's next Slash was halted abruptly as a column began to form in the water. The column uprooted itself to the surface and above water. Marina gasped in surprise. "Sl?" Tralin poke its head out of the water to survey the event. When it did, the raging aquatic column began to fall down in tandem with Empoleon's descent. "Follow up with Steel Wing!" Aaron ordered. Empoleon's wings suddenly illuminated in ivory and hardened even more with the blue, metallic tips illuminating in a bright azure. "Counter with Ice Beam!" Tralin once again fired the Ice Beam from its mouth, hoping it would freeze Empoleon and the Waterfall. To its surprise, Empoleon used the Steel Wing to cut straight through the Ice Beam as it descended.

"Tralin, dodge!" Marina commanded. Swiftly, Tralin went underwater and around the diameter of the impact zone to avoid any sort of damage. Empoleon's Steel Wing/Waterfall combo ended up hitting nothing but water. The Waterfall dispersed as a result and caused it to rain in the gym. "Someone is gonna catch pneumonia by the time this battle is over…" Brock said. As if on cue, Ash and Jimmy simultaneously sneezed. "Correction," Misty corrected, "Some _people _HAVE caught it."

"Tralin, Surf!" From behind the Water/Steel-type Pokemon, a giant tidal wave, bigger than before and empowered by the rain, suddenly formed. "Empoleon, turn around and uses Hyper Beam to evaporate the wave!" Aaron directed. The Emperor Pokemon beaked its golden beak and fired a beam of yellow orange energy at the base of Surf. Easily, the wave was decimated and quelled, adding more droplets to the already-in-session downpour. However, Tralin was nowhere in sight. "Ice Beam again!" Marina ordered. Tralin suddenly appeared in front of Empoleon was rendered absolutely flabbergasted as icy-cold energy connected upon its metallic exterior. The now-frozen Empoleon descended into the pool, landing on the concrete floor of the pool.

"Got it right where I want it." Marina announced with a confident smirk, "Tralin, go after it." 

_"She's gonna try that Flash trick again!" _Aaron thought in apprehension. The strategy Tralin uses seem practically perfect in his opinion. Well, Empoleon didn't have much of a counter against. His intelligent brain began to calculate anything that would help him get an edge in Tralin's territory. In the middle of Aaron's mental deliberation, Empoleon used its sheer strength to break itself free of the ice. But it would have no time to recuperate as Tralin begin to approach it. "Flash!" Marina commanded. _"CRAP!" _Aaron screamed mentally.

The pool once again became an aquatic rainbow; the intensity of the radiation blinded Empoleon and paralyzed its movements. "Now time to use Slash!" Marina commanded. Once again, the swift and powerful Slash barrage dominated the Water/Steel-type. "Empoleon, try to keep your guard up with Steel Wing!" Aaron ordered with his mind still racing to find the perfect solution. Blindly but controlled, Empoleon's wings became with ivory and the metallic tips alit with azure and began to spin around. Luckily, this action with Steel Wing caused Tralin's Slash to clash with, creating an audible CLANG and stunning Tralin for a split second. Even with this window of opportunity, Empoleon could not act on it because Flash would burn its optic every time it opened its eyes.

Little did it know, it was also blinding its trainer vision…which would prove to be a good thing.

Aaron suddenly had intense light invade his cornea. He promptly shielded his eyes with his hat. But, he still noticed something. The intense light was created by Empoleon's Steel Wing, that _only _thing distinguishable in the modified swimming pool. The brunette then found enlightenment (no pun intended). _"Of course, the power of reflection!" _With this plan in mind, Aaron began to devise a strategy to use to his advantage and claim victory. While he did so, Empoleon attempted his best at keeping Tralin at bay, despite the latter getting in a couple of hits on it. The Emperor Pokemon decided to abandon its current action and get above surface. It swam through the pool of rainbow as fast it was able to. It used its instinct, not its eyes, to help guide it to the surface. The water pressure lighten up, he was getting close. But before it could reach oxygenic salvation, coldness suddenly was inflicted on its underside. Empoleon was forcibly ejected out of the water by an Ice Beam and landed on a platform. Half of its body, starting from the feet, was frozen solid.

"Empoleon!" Aaron called out in anxiety. Now, the brunette knew the end was approaching. If his reflection strategy would not work right now, Tralin would be victorious over Empoleon _and_ his other two Pokemon. "You're done!" Marina uttered in exclamation and then commanded her Swordfish Pokemon, "Tralin, one more Surf!" Another tidal wave was formed right in front of the stationary Empoleon. This one was bigger than the others and it was empowered by a multihued Flash. _'Now's my chance!" _Aaron thought. "Empoleon, guard yourself with Steel Wing!" Hesitantly (because Empoleon didn't think that was a good idea), Empoleon held up its hardened, alit wings. Both Tralin and Marina thought this was futile and would not help it preventing the massive damage ensured by a Flash/Surf combo.

However, a bright glint radiated from Empoleon's Steel Wing. It was Tralin's own rainbow Flash! "Sll?" Tralin exclaimed as it was soon enveloped in its own trademark skill. "TRALIN!" Marina screamed out in incredulity and concern for her Tralin. "Like you said, Marina," Aaron spoke with smirk and saw the wave beginning to falter out of control from its own Flash, "you can't do much when you can't see what you're doing." The rainbow wave decreased highly in size as Tralin was left completely wide open and dazed. "Time to end this game! Empoleon, Hyper Beam!" Aaron commanded. "Emmmmp…" Empoleon droned as massive orange yellow energy collaborated near its golden beak. "POLEON!" The Emperor Penguin fired the Hyper Beam. The beam skipped straight across the surface of the water and struck Tralin, evaporating the remainder of the light-induced water. "SLLL!" Tralin screamed out in pain as an explosion occurred where it was.

"Tralin!"

"Game over…"

The smoke cleared out to reveal Tralin in the water, lying on its side with swirls of discontinuity in its eyes. "Sll…" It droned weakly. "Tralin is unable to battle!" the ref announced raising the flag in his right arm, "Empoleon is the victor and the winner is Aaron!"

"Clean sweep." Aaron grinned triumphantly, referring to the fact that he knocked out all Marina's Pokemon without losing one of his. "Alright, Aaron!" Ash exclaimed in cheer. "Pulled through, just I thought he would!" Ian said. "You rock and you rule!" Jimmy observed, giving both Aaron and Empoleon a thumbs-up. "It is true!" Marina (coordinator) exclaimed vivaciously, "He's _got_ to be a professional coordinator." She actually felt like the happiest girl alive. Her "teacher" was one a very exceptional. "YAY AARON!" Dawn and May cheered simultaneously. His performance was even more dazzling than the last time they saw him. "Wow, he really has gotten stronger…" Ash verbalized in a soft tone. Aaron's battle skills were almost intimidating to him. "Think you can handle him, Ash?" Brock teased. Ash immediately returned to his confident persona and replied, "Of course I can!" Misty only giggled at her best friend's antics.

A couple of minutes passed. During so, Aaron, Marina, and company tend the Pokemon, dried off, and reset the gym to its original posture. By the time completion was realized, the sky was orange, signaling the sunset. Everyone stood outside the gym. "Well, Aaron, to be honest," Marina (gym leader) spoke, "losing to you like that is a bit of a blow to my confidence." She finished with a sheepish expression while rubbing the back of her head. Aaron chuckled just as sheepishly, "I apologize. Don' let it get to you

"Aaron's right," Misty spoke, stepping in, "Take it from a veteran Water-type Gym Leader, Marina, just keep getting better and you'll be stronger than you'll know it."

"Thanks, Mist." Marina (gym leader) acknowledged and then turned to Aaron, "Well, looks like I gotta give you this."

Marina then pulled out the Aqua Badge and handed it to Aaron, "You've earned this; the Aqua Badge of the Firguson Gym." She declared. "Thank you." Aaron said and then added, "Well, that's one down." "I'll say." Ash concurred. "Well, I'd better get ready for my Contest before it's too late." Ian pronounced. "Same here." Dawn said. "I wish you all good luck in your contests." Marina stated.

The gang once again left the Firguson Gym, waving goodbye to its proud leader. For now, gym battles would have to step aside because, come tomorrow, Aaron would take center stage at the Firguson City Contest.


	12. Two's a Date, Three's a Party

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Two's a Date, Three's a Party**

The sky was once again golden and orange. This time it was in the AM hours; the morning had finally arrived in Firguson City. The lustrous yellow sunrays shone into all windows were free of blinds. Aaron's window was one of these windows and he instantaneously awakened. The brunette let a morning yawn escape his lips and he removes himself from the divan. He grabbed his trademark hat that hung on the bedpost and put it on his head. He then looked out the sun soaked window and at the Contest Hall that was visible in the window's view. _"Now, the real challenge begins…" _Aaron thought.

**At the Pokemon Center's Lobby**

Aaron sat at a table in the Pokemon Center's lobby. He stared at five Pokeballs lying on the table. As he would seem in the eyes of strangers, it would seem the brunette would be zoned out. But, in actuality, Aaron was devising contest tactics and he would do that when looking at the Pokemon he possessed on hand. "OK…For the Appeal Round…" He mumbled as his brown eyes scanned his line of Pokeballs from left to right. "Hmm…I'll use-"

"Up already, Aaron?" A voice from behind him questioned. Aaron looked over his shoulder to see Ash standing behind him with Pikachu on his shoulder. "I could say the same thing for you." Aaron countered back. Ash walked up to the table and asked again, "What are you doing?"

"Figuring out who I should use in my upcoming contest." Aaron replied, placing a finger on Empoleon's Pokeball. "Appeal Round…" He muttered inaudibly and pushed it away from the line. Ash and Pikachu only watched the strategist deliberate quietly. He certainly was an odd one, his style and his ways. In fact, Aaron was just odd in general in Ash's opinion. Aaron's finger was placed on another Pokeball and pushed it out of the line, Ash hearing the slightly perceptible words 'Battle Round'.

"Good luck in it." Ash said. "Thank you." Aaron replied, stowing away the Pokeballs that still remained collinear in his knapsack and attached Empoleon's and the unknown Pokemon's Pokeballs to his belt. "Excuse me." A feminine voice piped in from nearby. The males looked over to the origination of the voice and saw Nurse Joy standing there. "Yes, Nurse Joy?" Ash asked. "There is a line on hold on video phone #7 for someone named Aaron Shadow." Nurse Joy announced. "Oh. That's me." Aaron stated and followed Nurse Joy to video phone #7. Curiously, Ash and Pikachu followed the older male and the nurse.

When they approached the video phone, Nurse Joy pressed something on the machine and wandered off to do her job. "I wonder who it could be…" Aaron contemplated out loud.

Suddenly, the black screen turned on. "**AARON!**"

Aaron, Ash, and Pikachu immediately fell to the floor from the intense, vocal outburst. Their ears rung from the shrill voice that boomed from the speakers of the video phone. Eventually, they got up to their original positions and looked at the person in the screen. There was a female displayed. She had bistre-colored hair with two solid strands of hair hanging loosely over her face. Her brown eyes leered at the males with powerful negative emotions. As from what could be seen, she was wearing a silver nightgown; she apparently just woke up. "Chandra?" Aaron stated, "What's up, sis?"

"_Sis?" _Ash exclaimed mentally. He didn't know Aaron had a sibling. "Aaron…" The girl, now identified as Chandra, growled, "I think it's your turn now…" Aaron's expression grew exasperate, "Does it have to be now?"

"**YES!"**

Once again, Ash, Aaron, and Pikachu fell to the floor at Chandra's mighty and angry voice. Her heavy, rage-induced pants huffed throughout the speakers. This time, only Aaron regained his composure and stood back up to face his sister. "All right, all right…" Aaron stated but then asked, "But why are you so angry this morning, did it wake you up?"

"Oh, it did more than that." Chandra snarled. "What?" Aaron questioned. The bistre-haired girl checked for anyone behind Aaron and then stood up, she everything to Aaron that the screen initially would not. Aaron's eyes immediately became the size of saucers. Chandra did indeed have her nightgown on, but it was torn into multiple, erratic segments and large portions of web-like silk replaced some of the torn-out segments. So, at some points, one could see slight glimpses of what was underneath the gown and silk.

After seeing Aaron's reaction, she immediately sat back and yelled, "Do you see now!"

"Yeah, go ahead and send it over." Aaron instructed. Chandra went off-screen and some button-tapping and electrical sounds could be heard in the background. The Pokeball Transfer Device adjacent to the video phone began to exert the same electrical sounds until a Pokeball materialized on the stand. Aaron took the ball and stowed it away. When he went back to the phone, Chandra was back in view, who was looking somewhat calmer and relieved. "I got it."

"Good. Good luck in your gym battles and contests to come, bro." With that, Chandra logged off and the screen went black again.

Ash finally arose from his downward position and stated, "I have so many questions I wanna ask now."

"Pi…" Pikachu groaned, rubbing his sore head

"Well, depends on the question." Aaron responded. "Well, seeing that you have a sister and all, I kinda got curious. Do you have like any aunts or uncles? And what about your parents?" When the word 'parents' entered Aaron's earlobe, his expression notably darkened to the point when a shadowed covered his eyes. Ash noticed thing change and, in worry, inquired, "Anything the matter?" The older male shook his head, walked past Ash, and exited the Pokemon Center. Now Ash became concerned. Did he do something to offend him?

**At the Contest Hall**

A jubilantly confident chortle sounded in wayward shrubbery near the Contest Hall. It belonged to Jessie, rather Jessie sporting her foolproof _Jessalina _guise, who was, once again, showing off to her counterparts James and Meowth. "A fresh start means a fresh new chance at victory for moi." Jessie pompously declared. "Yeah, keep telling yourself dat." Meowth muttered under his breath. Jessie shot a glare at her Pokemon partner and spat, "I will, in fact! And this time I will win!" 

_"All talk, not much action…" _James thought contemptuously as he continued to view his long-time partner rant and rave.

It was abandoned in the morn, but now bustling with many pedestrians and civilians at noon. The 3rd Firguson City Contest was about to commence. Among the many people coming to see this wonderful occasion were Ash and his friends, eagerly waiting for Aaron.

"Oh, man, I can't to see Aaron perform." Dawn said excitedly as she and the others waited in the lobby. "Yeah, haven't seen him perform in a while." May stated. "Eh, he'll probably win like he always does…" Ian muttered unenthusiastically, "Little show-off…"

"Awww," Dawn piped in mockingly, "Is wittle Ian's pride hurt from losing?" She questioned in a babyish tone. Ian growled disdainfully, "Can it, Dawn." His mood was sour because he was defeated by Dawn in the second contest. Now, was potentially become the last person in the group to become ribbon-less.

"Hey, guys." A womanly greeted from behind. Everyone turned around to witness Yoshino, albeit differently-clothed. Her ivory dress was that of a wedding gown, a white veil hung loosely from the horizontal bar that fitted perfectly across her hairline. She wore white, elbow-length gloves. The multilayered skirt of her gown stopped at ankles to reveal formal white high-heeled shoes.

"Hey, there, Yoshino." May greeted as she examined Yoshino's formal outfit. "Uh, are you getting married or something, Yoshino?" Max inquired humorously as he pushed up his glasses. "No, this is my outfit for the Contest." Yoshino replied as she did a slight curtsey. Yoshino's gloved right hand suddenly was lifted slightly by two pairs of darker hands. "Oh, Yoshino." Brock tenderly cooed initiating another of his famous antics, "I would any day take your hand in marriage-"

"TOXI!"

Brock was immediately stabbed in his pelvic area with a deadly Poison Job from his Toxicroak. The Pokemon Breeder immediately fell to the ground and was carried away by Max and Misty. "Sorry about that." The latter two apologize sheepishly at Yoshino.

"Attention all coordinators!" the intercom's speaker rang throughout the whole building, ensuring everyone heard its cries, "Head to the briefing area, the Contest is about to begin. All audience members be prepared to spectate."

"All right, that's my cue." Yoshino announced and walked off, "Wish me luck, everyone!"

**-LATER-**

"Welcome one and all!" A peppy speaker yelled into her mic attached to her ear. She lady seemed to be in her mid-20s and possessed vibrant orange-ish hair. She owned a silver princess-like garb with baggy long sleeves. A white sash hugged her hips and the clothing the sash constricted against.

Livid cheers roared throughout the open dome in anticipation at the sound of the Tenla contest announcer. "And what we welcome you to is the 3rd Firguson City Contest and I'm your host Cecean (Seh-see-an)!" The exuberant MC said. "Now, we all know why we're here, so let's get this party started!" When she pumped a fist into the air, the cheers roared even more, reaching the noon skies and sun. "Now, here's our first contestant, Aaron Shadow of Metropolis Town!"

"Oh, boy, here comes Aaron!" Marina (coordinator) stated eagerly. "This ought to be interesting…" Brock mumbled in anticipation. Everyone else just simply and intently paid attention to the stage, awaiting their valued friend.

Through the large rose-colored curtains, Aaron, fashioned in his bistre and gold prince-like attire, stepped out confidently. "Wow, check out Aaron's clothes!" Ash exclaimed in awe. "Since when did he start dressing out?" Ian shouted out in question. "I don't know…" May uttered, her eyes glued to the transformed Aaron, "but he looks-"

"FABULOUS!" Marina, almost like a raging fan girl, shrieked in admiration. "Actually, I was gonna say…" May voice's drowned out, both by the raucous cheers of adjacent audience members and by her own will, "kinda hot."

Extending his arm outward, Aaron's thumb pressed the small button on the red and white device and maximized its size. "Empoleon, game on." Aaron threw the Pokeball straight into the air. The gadget popped open, exerted white light, and solidified into the Water/Steel-type Emperor Pokemon, Empoleon. "Empoleon!" The chosen pokemon grunted, sharpening its fins in preparation. "First, let's start out with Waterfall!" Aaron commanded pointing upward to the sky. Empoleon's whole body became enveloped in a watery, azure aura. Miraculously, a huge vat of aqua rose to incredible heights, swallowing up Empoleon in the process.

The Waterfall became a geyser of excellence as it reached its pinnacle of height. The sun peaking through the wide, horizontal section of the dome accentuated the aquatic excellence by making it shine. "Remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo, one of the judges, remarked. "A combination of controlled water and the sun; a prime example of a Pokemon's power and improvisation." Mr. Raoul Contesta complimented, intently scrutinizing the geyser. "It's well-kempt pokemon like these are what make my job easier." Firguson City's Nurse Joy commented.

"Who said I was done?" Aaron reassured with a slight smirk. "Empoleon, Ice Beam." Icy blue wave lines suddenly began to sporadically protrude out from the Waterfall. Empoleon tried to keep the Ice Beam from completely freezing the Waterfall to fulfill what he and Aaron were practicing for previously. The controlled Water-type attack's blue hue lightened up to a sky blue color. The top part of the Waterfall transfigured into ice ever so slightly. This formed a perfect star-like-shaped cap while the wavy lines from Ice Beam wrapped around the stem of the Waterfall.

The audience swooned at the gorgeous display of ice and water. Even the judges found themselves dumbfounded at the elegant and controlled mixture of sun, ice, and water. "All right, Empoleon, wrap this up." Aaron instructed. The amalgamation was suddenly dispersed with azure particles cascading slowly in the environment. Both Aaron and Empoleon took a gracious bow as applause rung into their eardrums.

"Oh my," Cecean spoke breathlessly and discombobulated, "That was indescribable. Judges, please tell me you have some words unlike me?"

"Re…markable."

"I'm speechless myself…Skip me so we can score it."

"Outstanding is the only word I can think of."

"Well, everyone, how about we give Aaron and his Empoleon one more round of applause before he leaves?" Cecean recommended to the crowd, "Give it up!" As Aaron and his Pokemon retreated behind the curtain boisterous cheers and screams sounded behind him.

Marina and May were absolutely at a loss for words, as if they had suddenly gone mute. "Oh my God…" Dawn said breathlessly "That performance was so well-organized and perfect that it's almost intimidating." Brock commented. "So Aaron hasn't been slacking off at all for five years…" Ian muttered, feeling somewhat inferior at the thoughts of his greatest rival, "makes the rest of us look like rookies."

"Moooooving on~ Here comes out next contestant, Yoshino of Firguson City!" The Firguson City resident, the magenta-haired Yoshino, run out from behind the curtain, lifting up her gown's skirt slightly to prevent tripping on the hem. "Doyubi, go!" She threw out her chosen pokeball. When she stopped moving at the very center of the appeal arena, her precious and prized Doyubi appeared in front of her.

"Doyubi, Focus Blast then Iron Tail!" Yoshino commanded. The Twin-Tail Pokemon started to form white energy in between the gaps of its tails. It then threw it to the sky weakly in order for it to use Iron Tail on it. Doyubi swatted the Focus Blast with two hardened tails, causing it to move in an orbicular motion. "Tail Wave!" Doyubi's alit tails suddenly lost their outline creating a slight gaseous mist in their place. The beige Pokemon then swung its modified tails. The gaseous energy created an actual planetary ring around the Focus Blast, keeping it from getting off-track or spiraling out of control. "Now Shadow Ball on the Focus Blast." An eerie glob of darkness materialized in the gaps of Doyubi's dual tails. It then hurled it to the Focus Blast. On impact, a large planetary mix of darkness and white gas formed. Now, the three attacks resembled that of an actual ringed planet.

"Wow, looks like Doyubi and Yoshino are giving us and other coordinators a bit of an astronomy lesson." Cecean proclaimed in an impressed tone. The man-and-pokemon-made planet dispersed into black and silver particles, ending Yoshino and Doyubi's appeal performance.

When Yoshino did a curtsey, another form of light started to shine, this time it was unprecedented. Everyone looked in question as Doyubi began to glow brightly. "Oh? What's this?" Cecean wondered aloud for everyone to hear via microphone. Yoshino stared in awe as the shining silhouette of her Pokemon began to enlarge and transform. The light faded away to reveal a creature none like her previous Doyubi. "Tri!" A gruffer voice howled. Yoshino almost automatically smiled in elation and exclaimed, "Oh my God!" "Well, lookie here, folks." Cecean stated, "Yoshino's Doyubi has evolved into a Trigrel!"

"Whoa. A Trigrel." Brock stated in amazement. Ash took out his red PokeDex and used it scan information of the new pokemon.

"**Trigrel: The Sanbi Pokemon. The evolved form of Doyubi. Even as individuals, Trigrel possess natural predatory and leaderships skills. The beauty and savagery seen in a Doyubi lingers onto Trigrel.**"

(A/N: "Trigrel" [Try-grell] comes from the combination of the word **tri**, which means three, and mon**grel**, describing Trigrel's dog-like characteristics. Also, "sanbi" means "three-tailed" in Japanese if I'm correct.)

Trigrel was no longer the diminutive dog Doyubi was. It was identically the size of a Tauros. It still possesses the beige colored fur its pre-evolution possessed. In addition, it has a cream yellow mane around its neck and cream yellow fluffs around its four ankles. Three long, elegant furry tails replaced the two thin tails its pre-evolution used to have. The silver eyes and black claws remained virtually unchanged.

Yoshino immediately began to hug her new pokemon affectionately. Uncannily, she no longer had to crouch down to hug Trigrel, she could stand up now. Trigrel yipped, of course in a deep voice, just as affectionately and nuzzled its trainer. "Awwwww." A collective sound of adoration echoed throughout the Contest Hall. "How cute." Misty commented. "….I think my breakfast is coming back up." Ian remarked disdainfully, mocking a sickly face. May and Dawn simultaneously bopped Ian's head for his disrespect. "OW!"

Pretty soon, Yoshino and Trigrel were dismissed backstage to allow the remaining coordinators give out their performances. Jessie, as Jessalina, used her Yanmega to give out a performance to try and enhance their "beauty" with the involvement of Silver Wind. Her performance was deemed acceptable. Then, many other assortments of coordinators gave out their performances, some of which involved new Pokemon native to Tenla. After many whiles, the Appeal Round ended and judges began to make their decision on the four who should move on to the Battle Round.

Yoshino and Aaron gathered in the Lobby waiting for the results. "Interesting that your Doyubi evolved into a Trigrel and right after a marvelous performance." Aaron commented as he sat beside Yoshino on a bench. "Thanks, Aaron." The magenta-haired coordinator acknowledged. "I assume you're going to use Trigrel in the Battle Round?" The brunette inquired. "Yes, I am." She replied. "This ought to be interesting, I wish you good luck." Aaron stated as he stood back up. "Same to you." Yoshino said back and stoop up as well. The two coordinators then warmly shook his hands, ready to imminently battle each other.

Cecean's voice suddenly sounded through the intercom, "OK, fans and coordinators, the judges have made their decision on the eight lucky people who will advance onto the Battle Round!"

On that cue, everyone coursed to the nearest TV screen to view who had qualified. Instantly, all screens displayed eight people, four each row. Of the eight lucky coordinators, images of Jessie, Yoshino, and Aaron were included. Aaron was in first place, Yoshino was in second, and Jessie was in eighth (or last) place. "As expected." Aaron mumbled cockily from whenever in the Contest Hall he stood. "Yay!" Yoshino cheered exuberantly. "Like I said, this time will be a different." Jessie said with an arrogant sneer on her face.

"And now, for the tournament brackets our randomizer had selected." The images of the eight finalists were jumbled up like cards being shuffled in a deck. The images were corrected in a certain order at the bottom of all screens. As that happened, lines determining who fights who were drawn. Yoshino and Jessie were set to battle first while Aaron and a random trainer were set to battle last.

"Oh, man, first one to go…" Yoshino said in dread and nervousness. "Don't worry, you'll be just fine." A reassuring voice said from behind Yoshino. The magenta-haired coordinator turned around to see Ash with Pikachu perched on his shoulder. "Oh, Ash, where's everyone else?" She inquired. "They already took their seats. I hanged around for a little longer." Ash answered and then said motivationally, "I'm sure you'll just do fine and, besides, you got a Trigrel to back you up." "Thanks, Ash. I'll keep all that in mind."

**-LATER-**

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, let's begin our Battle Round with our first two contestants, Yoshino and Jessalina!" Cecean declared.

Yoshino stood the left side of the arena while Jessalina stood on the opposite side. They were awaiting the signals from the officials to begin the battle. "Full 100% points." Cecean said, referring to the yellow circles of points under the contestants' images on the scoreboard. "5 minutes on the clock." She referred to the digital clock on the bottom center of the scoreboard, "And begin!"

"All right, Seviper, darling Jessalina needs your help!" Jessie threw out her Pokeball and out came the Poison-type snake, Seviper. "Trigrel, go!" Yoshino threw out her Pokeball and out came her new evolved Normal-type dog, Trigrel.

"Seviper, neuter that dog with Poison Tail!" Jessie commanded. "Seeev…" Seviper's blade-edge tail became alit with a glowing toxic violet color. It then slithered over to the indifferent Trigrel who calmly waited for it. "Trigrel, Tailwind!" The Sanbi Pokemon's three furry tails whipped violently, setting off a massive breeze throughout the battlefield. The zephyr caused Seviper to halt abruptly in its track until its Poison Tail command was forgotten. "I didn't tell you to stop!" Jessie reprimanded, "Hit that thing with Poison Tail!"

With the massive draft still lingering once again in the battlefield, Seviper once again attempted a Poison Tail. The Poison-type slithered over to the stationary Trigrel and swung its tail. However, impact was never made; in fact, Trigrel wasn't even there anymore. "Iron Tail!" Yoshino commanded. From out of nowhere, Seviper's face was introduced to hardened tail of Trigrel. "Keep it up!" As per command, Trigrel once again disappeared miraculously and slammed another Iron Tail on the receding Seviper.

"Incredible," Cecean commented, "Making use of Tailwind's ability to double a pokemon's peed, Trigrel seems to be moving with the wind and overwhelming Seviper!" On that note, Jessie's points had tremendously dwindled from a full 100% to 76%. Feeling merciful, Trigrel ceased its onslaught as Seviper landed near its owner. "Come on, Seviper, get back up!" Jessie urged frantically. The Poison Snake managed to regain its composure and was ready to attack again. At this point, Tailwind finally dispelled away. Seeing this opportunity, Jessie ordered, "Seviper, use Haze!" "Seviper!" The Poison-type snake opened up its mouth and released tremendous amounts of black smoke which enshrouded the battlefield completely. Trigrel and Yoshino immediately became alarmed (and their points were reduced from 100% to 93%). Thinking quickly, "Trigrel, Tailwind agi-"

"TRI!" The pained roar from Trigrel stopped Yoshino from finishing her command. The Haze cleared out to reveal Trigrel being bombarded with multiple assaults of Seviper's Poison Tail. Thus, Yoshino's point circle depleted even more, going from 93% to 81%. "Now Seviper, Bite!" Jessie commanded. Ceasing its Poison Tail assault, Seviper's red fangs gleamed vehemently and lunged at Trigrel. "Dodge! Hurry!" Yoshino commanded pleadingly. Trigrel was still recovering from its onslaught so it could not dodge in time; however, it improvised. Trigrel sidestepped slightly so that Seviper's jaws clamped onto thin air (and meaningless bits of its fur) and fastened its sharp teeth onto Seviper's long body. "SEEEEV!" Seviper screamed in pain as its crimson eyes practically bulged onto its sockets.

"I'll take that," Yoshino said, "Now, throw Seviper into the air!" Using its sheer mandible strength, Trigrel launched the poor Seviper into the air. "Tail Wave!" Trigrel's three tails suddenly lost their outlines as they became a white mist. "TRIII!" Trigrel howled in effort as it swung all three of its modified tails. A huge glowing pallid vertical wave of energy was released and scored a direct hit upon Seviper. A small explosion resulted from the impact.

The Poison-type fell back to earth with swirls present in its crimson, "Seviper…" It weakly mumbled in defeat. A buzzer sound and red Xs on the judge's podiums meant Seviper was unable to battle and was eliminated. "And may the records show, Seviper cannot battle anymore. So, that means Yoshino and Trigrel will move on!" The screen then displayed images of Yoshino and Trigrel with the words "WINNER" in gold print under their images. "YAY!" Yoshino cheered. "TRI!" Trigrel howled in victory. Jessie recalled Seviper with steam practically coming out of her ears. Boy, was she going to be fuming to her friends tonight.

With Yoshino's victory sealed, the other battles commenced and ended just as smoothly. Aaron finished off the first line of Battle Rounds with his Mawile defeating his opponent's Stantler. The quarterfinals then were underway. Yoshino and Trigrel took their opponent's Marowak. Aaron and Mawile absolutely decimated their opponent's Quagsire. Just as swiftly as it began, the quarterfinals were now history. Then, the semifinals began. Typically, Yoshino and Trigrel defeated their opponent and a Swellow while Aaron and Mawile defeated theirs and a Drapion. Ultimately, the most coveted round in a contest came; the finals.

Aaron and Yoshino, with their Pokemon already out, stood on each side of the battlefield, prepared for battle. Everyone in the audience, most fervently their friends, anticipated the battle intensely and was impatient for Cecean to begin the battle. "I thought we would get here safe and sound." Aaron stated with his arms crossed. "You mean there was doubt?" Yoshino stated with a smirk hidden behind her veil. The dressed-up strategist just knew his imminent opponent was smirking and grinned back. Mawile sat with her legs criss-crossed Indian-style while Trigrel stood on all fours valiantly. "And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, the final round to the 3rd Firguson City Contest!" Cecean jubilantly proclaimed, eliciting roars of excitement from the audience. "Let's get this party started!" Thus, the 5-minute clock began ticking.

"Ladies first." Aaron said as his Mawile stood up. "Ok." Yoshino giggled, "Trigrel, Tailwind!" The Normal-type's triple tails swished across the air, manufacturing a violent zephyr across the battlefield. Mawile shielded her eyes with her petite arms at the sudden increase in wind speed._"Heh, I know how to counter this." _Aaron thought and then openly stated, "Mawile, Ice Beam on the floor!" The Deceiver Pokemon's second mouth opened up and released a cold beam of energy at the floor. Within seconds, most of the battlefield was covered with a thick sheet of ice. Then, a slightly audible thud was heard; Trigrel, in close proximity of Mawile, slipped up when attempting an onslaught.

"Trigrel!" Yoshino cried in concern. She was also slightly shocked that her Tailwind strategy was shut down just like that. "Now Focus Punch, do it in style!" Aaron commanded. The Steel-type's right fist became enshrouded in a white aura. She leapt up and punched Trigrel. The latter began to involuntarily slide across the flat sheet of ice as a result. This began a cycle; after each Focus Punch, Trigel would helplessly shift/slide across the ice and Mawile would push itself back into the air and repeat. After approximately ten seconds, Mawile ceased its onslaught. Transforming for Trigrel's disadvantage and attacking with the aforementioned cycle reduce Yoshino's point circle from 100% to 89%.

"Come on, Trigrel, stand your ground!" Yoshino commanded. Carefully, Trigrel stood back up in to its normal quadrupedal position. Aaron cracked another smirk, "Immobilize it with Grass Knot." Mawile's red eyes and the spot on its second mouth became a green a hue. Long blades of growing grass peered through the ice and ensnared Trigrel. Yoshino's point circle was reduced from 89% to 85% from this action. "Now Hyper Beam!" Aaron commanded. Mawile turned around and opened its massive second jaws and began to charge up orange/yellow energy. "Not so fast." Yoshino stated, "Trigrel, Tail Wave and use on the floor!" Trigrel's three tails dispersed into a pallid mist. It then slammed them onto the icy floor it stood on, and three thin waves of energy coursed through the ice (breaking it in the process) and headed toward Mawile. Both Aaron and Mawile were taken aback and rendered unable to prevent a direct hit. The Deceiver Pokemon was hit with all three separate waves; she also accidentally released the Hyper Beam at close range, adding to the pain.

"Mawile!" Aaron exclaimed in worry as he heard his pokemon's pained screams from the triple threat. Mawile fell to the ground in pain as Aaron's point circle went from 100% to 80%. "Alright, Tailwind!" The female Steel-type got up to one knee in time to see a thick zephyr take over the field. "Mawile, Ice Beam on the floor again. Quickly!" Aaron ordered. "I thought you'd do that." Yoshino declared matter-of-factly. "What did you say?" Aaron responded in disbelief. "Combine your Tailwind with Tail Wave!" Just like before, Mawile released a cold beam at the floor; however, the lingering Tailwind suddenly became alit with lighter white. A spiral system occurred which negated the Ice Beam and destroyed the remnants of the icy floor. The Steel-type was also hit with the Tailwind/Tail Wave combo. Aaron's point circle was reduced from 80% to 68%.

"_Hmm…Nice strategy." _Aaron thought. He looked at the scoreboard. Yoshino had 85% points remaining while he had the aforementioned 68% points. The timer was at 2:46 and continued to go down from there. _"I need to turn these tables quickly. Perhaps I can use that strategy against her." _

"Iron Tail!" Yoshino commanded. With Tailwind still active, Trigrel seemed to disappear in the draft. "Keep your guard up, Mawile!" Aaron commanded. This command was in vain; Trigrel began to beat and batter the Steel-type pokemon with multiple amounts of Iron Tails. Each connection reduced Aaron's points by 2%. "Come on, Mawile, concentrate!" Aaron motivated while he himself tried to conjure a plausible strategy that would assure for his victory. Out of sheer luck, Mawile swung its peapod-shaped horns and clamped onto an oncoming Iron Tail. Noticing its success, The Deceiver Pokemon kept its mouth shut to prevent Trigrel from escaping. "Trigrel, try to escape!" Yoshino pleaded. "Don't let it go! Slam it around and then throw it into the air!" Aaron ordered.

Mawile tried to obey its trainer's order but Trigrel's better strength prevented it from trying to hurl the Normal-type around. The struggle for supremacy caused both of their trainers' points to decrease slightly. Not wanting to have his trainer lose, Mawile mustered all the strength its little body could produce and threw the Sanbi Pokemon into the air.

Yoshino gasped in surprise, "Trigrel!"

"There we go!" Aaron rejoiced, "Jump and get ready for my next command!" The Deceiver Pokemon jumped to where Trigrel was in the air. Trigrel snarled quizzically when it saw its opponent appear so abruptly next to it. "Now Ice Beam but spin around." Aaron commanded. Mawile opened up its large set of horns and gathered icy energy in it. While doing so, she took a position similar to a ballerina and began to spin around, gradually gaining speed. Yoshino and Trigrel could only spectate in horror as the Ice Beam fired as an interesting twist.

Because was performing its midair ballerina spin, the Ice Beam began to follow this path of rotation causing an icy spiral orb to form. Trigrel was smacked with the heavy brunt of this attack. The ice spiral orb continued to gain size and rotation. "That was…" Yoshino spoke in shock. "…You're strategy." Aaron finished with his widest grin today visible. The magenta-haired coordinator couldn't believe her eyes; her strategy with Trigrel was taken, modified, and performed even better than she could. The spiral finally disappeared in a heartbeat as Mawile gracefully landed on the ground. Trigrel followed up as a huge chuck of ice and shattered instantly upon landing. Everyone could visibly see the swirls of discontinuity present in its eyes.

The buzzer rang from the judge's podium. "Oh my, a fantastic way to end a fantastic battle!" Cecean remarked boisterously and then declared, "Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is Aaron and his Mawile!" The image of Aaron and his Mawile appeared on the board with the word, bordered with gold, "WINNER" underneath them.

"Game over!" Aaron exclaimed energetically. "Mawile!" Mawile cheered, just as animatedly, and run over to her trainer. The cute Steel-type hopped into Aaron's arms lovingly. "You did great, Mawile!" Aaron commended. "Ma!" Mawile responded cheerily. Yoshino tended to her fallen Trigrel, petting its head tenderly, "That was amazing, Trigrel." She cajoled in a hushed tone. "Tri…" Trigrel whimpered in exhaustion and nuzzled its trainer.

Minutes after the exchange of words pokemon to trainer were made, Aaron stood face-to-face with Cecean with Yoshino adjacent. "Aaron Shadow of Metropolis Town, we kindly present to you the prestigious Firguson Ribbon!" Cecean announced as she handed the winner his silver and turquoise prize. Everyone, including Yoshino and his friends, clapped vigorously as he held up the ribbon to luster in the sunlight.

May, Dawn, and Marina were probably the most vigorous of cheers; they got to see excellence at its best straight from a more experienced coordinator. Ash, Ian, and Jimmy were of vital cheering too; they saw the second side of Aaron's skills (knowing that battling Aaron would be inevitable). Brock, Misty, and Max were the ones doing the neutral kind of cheering, much like the majority of people who were overpowered by the ones with vim.

Now, with the 3rd Firguson City Contest coming to a close, Aaron has become one step closer to gaining access to the Grand Festival. Can he, along with the rest of his friends, survive the remaining trails Tenla has to offer?


	13. Scere and the 40 Thieves

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Scere and the Forty Thieves**

"Tentacruel, Sludge Bomb!"

"Beedrill, dodge and use Swords Dance!"

The giant Jellyfish Pokemon raised its front beak-like appendage and fired multiple bullets of toxic from the underside. The minute Poison Bee Pokemon quickly evaded each and every shot by buzzing around as quickly as possible. Then, small, glowing silver swords surrounded Beedrill and clashed loudly to enhance its attack power. "Now, X-Scissor!"

Beedril's long stingers became alit with a light green hue. It intersected them and threw them down, firing a light green X at Tentacruel. The Poison/Water-type was nailed with the X-Scissor right on its blue cap. The force was so great that Tentacruel plummeted straight to the concrete floor of the pool, leaving in its wake an X-shaped hole in the water. The X was immediately filled with water and hoisted a fainted Tentacruel back to surface. "Tentacruel is unable to battle! Beedrill is the winner and the victory goes to Jimmy!"

"You rock and you rule!" Jimmy exclaimed giving his Poison/Bug-type a thumbs-up. Beedril buzzed in joy as it flew over to its trainer. "Tentacruel, you did well…" Marina (gym leader) cajoled as she tenderly rubbed the cap of Tentacruel's head and then recalled it into its Pokeball. "Hooray, Jimmy!" Marina (coordinator) and Ash cheered from the sidelines. Aaron and Misty, the only two other people there, simply clapped their hands in respect.

Marina (gym leader) awarded Jimmy his well-earned Aqua Badge, and he, along with the friends he brought, left the Firguson Gym. "Congratulations Jimmy." Aaron commended, "You did very well in your Gym Battle."

"Thanks, Aar." Jimmy appreciated. "Now everyone has gotten their Gym Badges. We can move on now." Ash said. "Yeah, too bad Ian lost his contest." Misty stated. "I already talked to Dawn and May about that," the brunette strategist spoke, "We agreed to let Ian partake in the next contest without us participating." Misty preplied, smiling a little, "Well, that's good."

Ash looked up to the nighttime sky. Jimmy's gym battle was approximately one hour ago and just finished. In fact, it was too dark to continue traveling out of Firguson City. "Well, looks like we gotta spend another night here." The raven-haired trainer announced. "Yeah. Speaking of traveling, Ash," Aaron spoke again, "I found out from Brock that the next place with a gym is Shoto Town." "All right."

The company made it to the Pokemon Center again. Upon entry, they were greeted with Dawn and Ian having, lack of a better word, "argument". "I'm really ticked off at your emo attitude Ian!" Dawn growled, getting all up in Ian's face

"How dare you call me 'emo'! Especially from a better coordinator than you!" Ian roared in retort, pressing his face into Dawn's and locking his dark grey eyes with her blue ones heatedly.

" 'Better coordinator'? Ha!" Dawn scoffed and backed away from Ian, pulling out her Ribbon Case, opening it, and practically shoving her recently acquired Firguson Ribbon in his face. The Ghost-type enthusiast audibly growled and stormed away to his room fuming. May and Max sheepishly sweatdropped at the childish actions.

Aaron, Marina, Misty, and Ash sweatdropped in embarrassment in pity. "Ian and Dawn acting childish?" Aaron asked to the only two witnesses. "Yup." They simultaneously replied. "Figures." Misty stated, rolling her eyes. "Well, if it's not too much trouble, I'm hittin' the hay." Jimmy declared as he began to exit the lobby, "Night, ya'll."

"Night."

Following Jimmy's example, everyone else followed up by heading to their respective rooms and getting ready to slumber. As bustling and crowded it was in the day, Firguson City was quiet and tranquil at night.

…For a little while, that is.

A scampering, tiny figured prowled gracefully through the darkened shadows of Firguson City. The shadowy entity practically blended into the dark milieu, allowing its progress to be made without hindrance or detection. The mysterious thing found its target: Firguson City Pokemon Center. With grace and dexterity, the unknown figure jumped onto the roof of the establishment and instantly entered it through the air ducts. Upon the swift accomplishment of simply breaking in the Pokemon Center, a devious sneer stretched across its hidden face, foreseeing the many things it would be able to perform.

**-MORNING-**

A still drowsy Ash and Pikachu arrived in the lobby of the Pokemon Center. It was only 10:00 AM in the morning. Upon entry, they were immediately awakened at the sight of many officers present in the lobby. "Pika?" "Yeah, what in the hell is going on here?" Ash wondered aloud. "There was a break-in." Nurse Joy, who was approaching the newest addition the amount of people in the lobby, answered. "Break-in? Was anything robbed?" He asked again. "I don't know, that's what the police are investigating now." Nurse Joy replied as her head began to hang low, "but this the fifth time this week a break-in has been reported." "Fifth time?"

"Yes. We don't know how all this started, but it's been happening and every time something is reported missing." Nurse Joy explained. "Oh man…" Ash said uncomfortably. "Nurse Joy," another female, yet more stoic, voice spoke. It was Officer Jenny and she approached the pinked-haired nurse and said, "We would like to talk a thorough investigation into the Center, so we need access to more distinct places. We also ask if all people in the dorms leave." The pokemon nurse nodded understandingly and replied, "Sure." She then turned back to Ash, "I'm afraid you and the rest of your friends need to go."

"No problem, I'll go do that right now." Ash responded and went back to the section of the Pokemon Center that contained the extra dormitories. Earlier this morning, Jimmy came to his room and announced he and Marina were departing, so he needn't to knock on their doors. The first door he knocked on was Misty's, "Yo, Misty! Officer Jenny said we need to get out of this place." Ash hollered loud enough so that his voice would reach Misty's ears from the other side. Immediately, the orange-haired Cerulean Gym Leader opened the door with a somewhat of a scowl located on her face. "Um, you OK?" Ash asked uneasily. "Not really…Something of mine has been stolen…" She said in a low tone. "Oh, man." Ash stated in exclamation, "Looks like the thief stole something after all."

"Thief?" Misty echoed, looking at the trainer inquiringly.

"Yeah, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny told me about some burglary that happened last night." The raven-haired trainer explained. Under her breath, the Water-type enthusiast mumbled, "That explains how my innermost articles of clothing are gone."

"You say something?" Ash asked, unable to catch her words fully. The Cerulean City Gym Leader shook her head, "No, we'd better tell everyone else." Ash nodded, "Right."

Misty exited her room and closed the door behind it. The two went to Brock's door with was adjacent to hers. Ash knocked again, "Brock, you awake yet?"

"Door's open!" Brock's voice declared from the other side of the wall. Ash and Misty opened the door and entered to see their dark-skinned friend searching every nook and cranny of his room for something. "What's up, Brock?" Ash inquired.

"You, uh, looking for something?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, my bag is gone, but it was right beside my bed before I went to sleep." Brock announced, ceasing his exploration and faced his long-time companions. "So something else got stolen, huh?" Misty said placing her hand near her chin as if she was contemplating more on the situation. "'Something else'?" Brock questioned, "What do you mean?"

"There was a break-in last night." Ash replied. "Really, but I heard nothing come into my room." Brock said. "Then this was probably someone very skilled." Misty concluded and then speculated to her friends, "I wonder if Ian, May, Max, Dawn, and Aaron got anything stolen?" "Let's go find out." Ash recommended and left the room. The two gym leaders followed him suit.

The next room on their short trip would be the Maple Siblings' room. Ash once again knocked on the door. "Come in." The younger child's voice directed from the other side. Upon entry, they were greeted with Max without his glasses on his face and every door, drawer, and opening device ajar. Pikahu's expression became that of when one would witness the strangest occurrence to ever transpire; Ash, Misty, and Brock were not too dissimilar. "What happened here?" Brock cautiously inquired. "May's bandanna is gone and so are my glasses," Max responded, "And May is overreacting." The trainer-in-waiting pointed to the door of the dorm that separated his room from his sister's.

The trio from Kanto carefully poked their heads around the corner to look out the door. Sure enough, the older sibling was in a frenzy. She constantly checked all spots in her room, even going searching over approximately three times. Her room was no different from Max's. "Uh, May?" Ash vigilantly said. The female brunette, minus her bandana, halted and faced her friends. "Oh, hey, guys…" She dejectedly replied. "Lost your bandanna, I see." Brock stated, scrutinizing the ruined bedroom. "Yeah! I've been looking for it everyone!" May exclaimed in outrage. "Obviously…" Ash muttered under his breath as a sweatdrop graced the back of his head. "Well, you probably won't find it," asserted Misty, "because there was a burglary during the night and it was probably stolen with the rest of the stuff." To prevent herself from screaming in rage, the Pokemon Coordinator inhaled and exhaled in a manner similar to hyperventilation. Eventually, her frustration eroded and said responded, "I see…"

"What's all that racket?" An annoyed, more masculine voice interrogated. Everyone turned to see Ian, without his prized cape, with Max at the doorway. "Damn, did a Pidgeot use Gust in this place or something?" He asked amusingly. May huffed, "Not in the mood for jokes, Ian."

"Who said I was joking?" He retorted, "It looks like hell in this place."

A high-pitched scream suddenly sounded in the adjacent room. The group recognized the obstruction to their hearing rather easily; that was only one person in the company that can reach higher than a High-C note. "Dawn!" Everyone exclaimed, immediately going back outside and approaching the girl's dorm door. "Dawn, what's up?" Brock inquired with his voice high enough to penetrate the wall. "_Please_! Whatever you do, _please _don't come in!" The blue-haired adolescent pleaded hysterically from the other side. "Then what were you screaming for?" May asked. "I'm in the midst of a crisis here!" Dawn responded. Taking charge, Ian went forward and forced the door open (the door was unlocked) and reprimanded, "Oh, come on, it can't be that-"

Actually, it was that bad…Dawn's normally sparkling, slick, and flat blue hair was now completely disheveled and almost of a sickly slate color. "OH MY GOD, IT'S MEDUSA!" Ian and Max screamed out, pointing at the abnormal hairdo Dawn was sporting. "Told you shouldn't have come in…" Dawn growled as she glared at them, Ian mostly. "Uhh…that's-" Brock said then cleared his cleared throat mid-sentence to find plausible words, "a really bad case of bed hair."

"YES IT IS!" Dawn exclaimed, practically whining from the fact her appearance was marred, "And all of my stuff is gone; my brush, hair gel, hairspray, EVERYTHING!"

"Wow, the thief seems to have impacted you the most." Ash said absentmindedly, his eyes were more focused on the scruffy locks the Twinleaf resident had. "STOP LOOKING AT MY HAIR!" Dawn demanded loudly. Ash immediately averted his eyes, whistling innocently. "Well, Dawn," Ian spoke, "Looks like karma bit your ass hard; you took what I wanted and now you got what you wanted ta-"

CLANG!

The poor Ghost-type specialist was on the floor with a huge bump obscuring his obsidian hair and his grey eyes circling dizzily. Dawn, with red-hot rage transforming her appearance in a supernatural manner, hung a mallet over her shoulder and venomously said, "Not. In. The. Mood." Max cowered in fear, _"Now she really does look like Medusa." _Ash, May, Brock, and Misty sheepishly chuckled at the antics of their prim-and-proper adolescent and sneering individual. "So, I guess that leaves Aaron." Max stated wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible. "Right." Everyone said. They left the room (with Dawn putting on her cap in an attempt to somewhat conceal her hair and Brock dragging the unconscious Ian across the floor) and approached the last person of their group's door. "Yo, Aar-"

The door immediately flung open with a thunderous impact in the wall, which made everyone's skin practically jump out of their skin. "What. Is. It?" A hatless, unhappy, and darkened Metropolis Town resident was at the doorway. Pikachu, not wanting to face Aaron, looked over his shoulder to view the inside of his room. The room was in even worse condition of the Maple Siblings'. Furniture was turned over, curtain were ripped. It was as if an absolute maelstrom of destruction plagued the cubic-square environment. "Pika…" The yellow mouse squeaked uneasily. "Uhhh…Where's your-"

"IT'S GONE! MY HAT IS GONE!"

Even in a state of unconsciousness, Aaron's audio rampage reached Ian's earlobe. The Lavender Town resident instantly sat up and exclaimed, "You're what is gone?"

"DO I NEED TO REPEAT MYSELF?"

"No."

"THEN STOP ASKING THAT QUESTION!"

"Y-yes, sir…"

Finally, after minutes of calming down, cleaning up, and packing up, the gang finally fulfilled Officer Jenny's request to evacuate the Pokemon Center. They were walking down the silver and grey walkways and highways of Firguson City. "I wonder who could've done all this…" Ash mused audibly. "Definitely someone skilled." Max replied. "I hope they can find the person soon," Dawn wished, making an attempt to smoothen out her ruptured locks, "A bunch of people are wondering the location of their stuff."

The internal rumbling caused by one's stomach sounded. The people who were responsible for this were Dawn and May, who guiltily chuckled. "Maybe getting something to eat would help us think." Misty concluded. "Uh, I would whip something up…" Brock spoke, "but my bag had all my cooking equipment in it."

With that said, the gang immediately began a quest in search of cuisine, kindly asking all restaurants for sustenance. But their answer was all the same, the thief from last night poached the majority of food. Disheartened and famished, Ash and company groggily sauntered aimlessly through Firguson City. "So hungry…" Ash groaned as he slouched in his step. "So tired…" Max and May groaned in unison. Aaron, who was the only one in an upright and stoic position, retorted, "Quit complaining…" Ash noted that ever since Aaron became hatless, his personality notably developed into something sterner. Before he had the chance to interrogate why, two more voices came into the picture, "Hey, everyone!" They belonged to Yoshino and Marina.

They instantly noticed their friend's downgraded manner (with the exception of an aforementioned somebody). Yoshino questioned, "Uh, are you guys OK?" Everyone, excluding Aaron once again, grumbled inaudibly but their growling stomachs answered the question for them. "Oh, lack of food because of the crook, huh?" Marina stated, "Well, come down to the gym, I have some leftover food."

"YAY!"

"No thank you…" A calmer yet irritated declination obstructed the cheers of the majority. Typically, this was Aaron who declined the offer. "Why not, Aaron?" May asked. "I just don't want anything. I'll be wandering around town…" With that, the brown-haired strategist turned around and began to wander away from his friends. Now this made Ash somewhat annoyed, to the point he brazenly objected, "Aaron, what is up with you today?" That did not halt the Steel-type strategist's progress. "Ever since this morning you've been acting very strangely! Why is that stupid hat so important to you?" Now that did. Ian's face crunched, foreshadowing an event he has already experienced, _"Oh no, you've screwed up now, Ash." _

Aaron abruptly turned to glare at the raven-haired trainer. That bravado which was once present in Ash quickly disappeared under the cold harsh glare of his older friend. However, the glare vanished as a sharp sigh was released from his mouth. "If only you knew…" He stated as he once again turned around and left his friends. Before any remarks could be made, "You guys have so much to learn about him…." Ian said with a sharp exhale. "Oh? Care to enlighten us?" Misty replied. Ian's mind wavered when his decision sprouted up; the subject he was referring to was an extremely one. Eventually, he made up his mind, "I will, but let's get to the gym first."

And so, the group, led by Yoshino and Marina, arrived at the Firguson Gym and went to a back area of the gym. They were greeted with an assortment of seafood on a dinner table. Upon the sight of this substantial excellence, the gang, without delay, hurried to the table, took a seat, and began to gluttonously chow down. After a feast of sanctuary, they were satiated plenty. "Now, Ian," Dawn spoke, "What is it that you were going to tell us about?"

"_Oh, man." _Ian thought gravely. With a deep sigh, Ian began to tell a very critical story, "Well, Me, and another good friend of ours, are the only human friends of Aaron that actually knows of this story. And now you guys are about to be the next few. That hat is really important to him because it's supposedly a memorandum of his parents."

"So, he's got something to remember his parents by," Dawn interjected, "So do I."

"It isn't that simple," Ian corrected, "That hat is the last thing his parents ever gave him. Aaron's an orphan, his parents are dead."

An uneasy chill reared its ugly mug into the room. The silence was deafening was the dark event from Aaron's past sunk into their minds. "Whoa…" Ash stated. Now he felt really guilty about what he said before. He knew now knew what Aaron meant by 'if only you knew'. "His parents…are dead?" May said dejectedly. She already knew the answer, but she just couldn't grasp the depressing fact. "That's scary…" Max commented.

Aaron dismally watched the still Firguson Lake. The lost of his hat would always reopen old wounds. That dreadful day replay in his mind as if it occurred not too long ago:

_The entire Shadow Family decided to take an excursion to downtown Metropolis Town of the Orre Region. "I wonder if Metropolis Town will finish that Plaza Square thing yet…" Uncle Darrel, Aaron's dad's brother, wondered aloud. "It'll be done eventually." Aunt Catherine, Aaron's mother's sister, replied. "Mommy, I'm hungry." Chandra and Bruce, Aaron's younger brother and sister, whined simultaneously as their stomachs growled loudly. "We'll take them." Aunt Catherine and Uncle Darrel stated. "Come along, kids." Darrel commanded as they leaded the younger siblings along. "We have other things we need to do." Granddad Zachery, Aaron's dad's father, announced. "Take care." Grandma Tiffany, Aaron's mom's mother, said as the oldest of the group departed._

_So, that left Aaron, Magnemite, and his parents alone. "Come on, son." Aaron's mother commanded as they began to walk a different direction. The family took themselves to all different locations of Metropolis Town's strip mall and merchants. Although they didn't buy much, they enjoyed the usual scenery of a combination of urban and rural environments. _

_The Shadow Family possessed an extensive career concerning Pokemon: Aaron's dad was a renowned pokemon trainer. He took on many gym battles with awe-striking skills and won three Pokemon League Championships. He even challenged two Elite Four members only winning one of the two fights. His mother was a coordinator, just as renowned as her husband. She won many contests using captivating and beautiful techniques and won three Grand Festivals. Aunt Catherine, her sister, even said she took on a Contest Master once, but lost unfortunately. Uncle Darrel and Aunt Catherine are retired Pokemon Researchers. Granddad Zachary and Grandma Tiffany were retired trainers._

_After approximately an hour of roaming, Aaron and his parents exited from the strip mall department of Metropolis Town. Aaron was busy communicating with Magnemite as they traversed. Aaron's father looked at Aaron's mother who nodded in response. Apparently they knew something. "Aaron?" The father called. "Yes, Dad?" Aaron responded. Aaron's father then reached into the bag he was carrying and pull out a hat case. Both Aaron and Magnemite looked at the case quizzically. After opening it, Aaron's father presented a grayish silver hat. "Here, son, a gift for you from your mom and dad." He said as he put the hat on Aaron's head. It was oversized slightly so it covered his eyes. Aaron chuckled cutely a he lifted it so he could recover his sight. "Thanks, Mom and Dad." He thanked. "You're welcome, son." Aaron's mother replied._

_**-Even Later-**_

_Evening was around the corner. Aaron's family had final trips as they were getting ready to go back home to the rural part of Metropolis Town. The crowd for the night was entering as well. Cars and other vehicles began to clutter the roads slowly but surely. Everything was rather straightforward and calm….for now that is._

_Aaron's parents and Aaron approached a crosswalk. They waited for the light to signal pedestrians were able to cross. After an approximate minute, the light signaled they were able to and they began to saunter across. In a situation like this, normally the cars are forced to stop progressing and let the pedestrians. But when you're drunk, you tend to disregard such. A drunk driver's car swerved around the curve recklessly. Amazingly, the drunk managed to evade all cars in the street (even IF he was driving at nearly 95 MPH)._

_Unfortunately the drunken driver did not regard the fact he was suppose to stop for the crosswalk and continued on. When the driver FINALLY got to his senses, he turned the steering wheel violently making the car turn sideways skidding. To make matters worse, it did not help stopping him, it only adding more coverage for any collisions. Aaron and his family looked in horror as they were like trapped almost. Aaron's father acted quickly. He pushed his son out of the way and Aaron was out of the way safely (Magnemite followed just to let you know)._

_However, you could not say the same for his parents…._

_A loud, defending crash was sounded throughout the street. When Aaron looked, the car was flipped over and destroyed. He frantically checked for his parents hoping that they made it out safely. But before he could try, officers poured into the vicinity and one of them escorted Aaron and Magnemite away._

_Because the rest of Aaron's family was not present, the officer had to watch him until they arrived. It would be soon because this accident was big. But what concerned Aaron was the whereabouts of his parents. "Sir?" Aaron asked, "Where are my Mom and Dad?" The officer looked at Aaron sympathetically. He was so young and innocent and the bad news would just tear him part, maybe even scar him for life. "I don't know yet." He responded. This was only 50% true. Though, they did not FULLY deduce a fatality, a crash like that surely causes one. Aaron looked at the scene worriedly but he could not make out anything because police cars, ambulances, and flashing lights blocked everything._

_"Aaron!" Aaron's grandfather called out as the family approached them. "Oh thank God, you're safe." Darrel said out of relief. Tiffany looked around, "Where are your Mom and Dad?" She asked. "The police officer they don't know." Aaron innocently replied. Chandra and Bruce did not comprehend either because they were young, but the older ones could tell. However, they denied the belief that the parents would be dead. All they could do is wait and pray for the best._

_**-LATER-**_

_And praying for the best did not work. Aaron's parents, probably the most famous duo in Orre, were pronounced dead the moment they were placed in the ambulance._

_The whole family, especially Chandra, Bruce, and Aaron (Aaron more than the other two), were wallowing in grief and sorrow. This event actually Orre-wide news and the funeral actually went on live at Mt. Battle. This was truly a sad day indeed. Darrel and Zachery took custody of Aaron's dad's Pokemon while Catherine and Tiffany took custody of the mother's pokemon._

_After the memorable yet depressing event, the family went home. However, home would never be the same. Aaron went to his room and continually stared out the window. The only other thing he would gawk at was his hat, the last bestowal of his parents.  
_

"I will find that hat if it's the last thing to do." Aaron declared through gritted teeth. Now, he deduced that he had gotten enough time from his friends and took out his grey PokeDex. He began to mess with the handheld device, trying to locate the feature that allowed interactivity with other known Pokemon Encyclopedias. "Jesus, how does Ash make this look easy?" Aaron complained.

"**Scere-"**

"The hell?" Aaron exclaimed at the sound of the device's computerized voice. He saw a small, torn-off, dark-colored piece of fabric hooked against some piece of wood. And his PokeDex was directly aimed at it. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up." He fidgeted with the dial wanting the machine to replay the description of a 'Scere'.

"**Scere: The Rambunctious Pokemon. A Scere has magnificent skills of thievery and can successfully rob a whole city in the span of a night."**

The image of the PokeDex displayed a minute dark creature. It hung a bag (thicker than Delibird's) over its shoulder. Its body was covered with black fabric stereotypical worn by robbers. Its feet were cylindrical and flat and its hands were garnished with black gloves. Its head almost resembled that of a Riolu's. Its skin/fur was a dark blue and a thin mask covered around the area of its crimson eyes (of course you can see the eyes). The mask had a concealed knot at the nape and two long strands of the mask fabric flowed outward. No ears were visible.

(A/N: The name "Scere" comes from '**sc**a**re**' and 'thi**e**f', emphasizing the fact that Scere is a pure Dark-type with awesome burglarizing capabilities.)

Aaron blinked at the revelation of the thief that plagued Firguson City last night. "Well, that explains things exponentially." He said. Suddenly, the feeling of multiple presences dawned upon him. Aaron abruptly turned around only to see absolutely nothing was there. "Odd, could have sworn someone was approaching me." He said and then went over to the evidence left behind by Scere and let his PokeDex clamp on it, not wanting to obscure the valued fabric. He quickly ran off in search of Officer Jenny.

Team Rocket, who was the people that roused the instincts of the orphan, revealed themselves from their hiding location. "Apparently, it was a good idea to tail down Mr. Gloomy Guts." James said. "Yea. With dat Scere being to strip a city of its riches eva so quickly, it can make Team Rocket rich and set fo' life!" Meowth stated elatedly. "Yes. Let the pro do its work and Team Rocket will appear to take the prize!" Jessie cheered. Her two friends followed up with cheers of their own. "Wobbu!" "Mime, Mime, Mime!"

Ultimately, Aaron located the dutiful Officer Jenny questioning one of the restaurant owners. Clearing his throat, he professionally interjected, "Excuse me, Officer Jenny." The green-haired police officer turned to the brunette and inquired, "What do you want?" Aaron took out of his PokeDex, opened it, and presented the critical evidence and the information on Scere. "I believe this lead will ultimately close this case."

And you wouldn't believe how relieved Officer Jenny was. "It definitely will!" She stated and called over her Arcanine. "Arcanine, sniff this and track down the owner as quick as possible!" She held the dark fabric to the Fire-type's sensitive nose. It immediately got the scent. "Ar!" Arcanine barked and ran out of the establishment. "Everyone, follow Arcanine!" Officer Jenny instructed as she and Aaron ran after it. Of course, Team Rocket followed discreetly.

Ash, Marina, and company finally left the gym in search for their away friend. "Where could he be?" Ash said. "Probably someplace where people can-"

Suddenly, dozens of Arcanine trampled over Ian while dozens of male police officers , Officer Jenny, and Aaron followed up. The very unfortunate Ghost-type user grey eyes were transfixed into Xs with a rim of chirping Torchic circling his cranium. "Why does this always happen to me…?" He groaned in a quavery voice. "They must be onto something," Brock spoke as he watched the disappearing crowd, "follow them!"

The frantic quest led back into Firguson Forest in the end. The Arcanine sniffed every bush and tree, hot on the trail of the suspect. "We're getting close…" Officer Jenny declared based on her Arcanine's progression. "I see." Aaron responded as he took out a Pokeball for the ensuing arrest. The Fire-type's suddenly snarled; they found their target. They leapt gracefully over a set and bushes growled menacingly. They were followed by a set of male officers, Officer Jenny, and Aaron. There stood a Scere having difficulty hauling a bag triple its own body mass. "There it is!" Aaron exclaimed and sent out his Magnezone.

The diminutive thief growled and stood protectively in front of its bad of stolen items. "Looks like we're not going down without a fight." Aaron concluded as Magnezone sparked electricity in its magnets. "Then so be it." Jenny said, "Arcanine intimidate with Roar." The Legendary Pokemon released a collective menacing growl at Scere. The Dark-type held out its petite hand and its crimson eyes gave off a purple glint. The octaves from the Arcanine were suddenly stolen by small orbs of darkness. The orbs recalled back to Scere and it released a Roar of its own, more threatening and terrifying than the Arcanine. The Fire-types cowered at the taste of its own medicine.

"How did-" "That had to have been Snatch, a move that will take an opponent's noncontact, no damaging attack and use it for its own." Aaron interjected the green-haired officer in interjection. "Then let's get offensive!" Jenny yelled, "Arcanine, Flamethrower!" "Magnezone, Thunderbolt!"

Jenny's Arcanine released a gush of red flames while Magnezone gave off huge amounts of voltage. Both attacks headed toward the petite Dark-type. Scere hoisted its heavy load over its head and jumped up to a tree limb to avoid contact. When it landed, it set down the oversize bag and its gloves became an ivory color. From its left hand, a Thunderbolt rocketed out while in its right hand a blazing Flamethrower made its presence known. "It knows Mimic too?" Aaron exclaimed in surprise. "Watch out!" Officer Jenny cautioned as she tackled Aaron to the ground to avoid both attacks. The Arcanine, male police officers, and Aaron's Magnezone barely evaded the combination of Fire and Electric.

With a triumphant grin, Scere hauled its heavy bag over its shoulder and jumped away quickly. "Everyone OK?" Officer Jenny surveyed as she stood back up. Positive responses were made. "After it!" Jenny ordered as she and her crew pursued the escaping scoundrel.

"We lost them…" Ash announced disconsolately. "Man, where did they go?" May wondered. Suddenly, a Scere jumped in front of them only to have its hoard fall on its frail body. "Sc…" It groaned exhaustedly as it tried to correct itself. "Hey, look." Max pointed out, "That's a Scere." Ash took out his PokeDex and the machine distributed a description on the pure Dark-type. "That is one fishy description." Misty remarked as her eyes glared at Scere. "Bet you $10 million that THAT'S our thief!" Ian stated heatedly as he pointed accusingly at the Dark-type. Scere finally managed to free itself from its own load and hoisted the bag over its shoulder again.

"It's getting away!" Brock exclaimed.

"Oh no you don't! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. The electric mouse jumped off its trainer's shoulder, "PikaCHU!" Ten thousands watts of electricity surged toward the frail Dark-type. Quickly spotting the threat, Scere jumped back to avoid the Electric-type attack. The Dark-type growled in agitation as Pikachu stared it down with sparks flying in its red cheeks. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. Pikachu's zigzag-shaped tail hardened and became alit with silver. It rushed over to Scere rapidly. The Rambunctious Pokemon set down its bag with a sigh and began to charge at the attacking Pikachu. It balled its right fist and prepared a punch. A black spiraling aura (Drain Punch) enveloped the fist. Pikachu swung its Iron Tail while Scere launched its Drain Punch. The respective Steel- and Fighting-type attacks clashed together.

Amazingly, Scere's Drain Punch overpowered Pikachu's Iron Tail and connected onto the Electric-type's chest. "PIKA!" The mouse yelled in distress and receded back to its trainer. "Pikachu!" Ash called out in concern and kneeled down to his partner. Purple particles were present were Pikachu was when it was hit and they retreat to Scere; the thief was immediately healed.

"Hidden Power!" Aaron's voice commanded. The Magnet Area Pokemon appeared from the bushes and fired white, atom-shaped energy. Scere was taken by surprise. Because of such, Scere had no time grab its bag and had to dodge by itself. The bag, and the ground around it, was frozen from the Ice-type Hidden Power. "Scere! (Oh no!)" The disheartened Dark-type exclaimed. Aaron, along with Officer Jenny and the Arcanine, appeared from the bushes. "Aaron!" The strategist's friends exclaimed happily. "Hello, everyone!" Aaron greeted cheerfully.

The Rambunctious Pokemon attempted to recover its frozen steal, but the Arcanine and Aaron's Magnezone got in front of it, blocking it off. Officer Jenny and the male officers extracted the bag from the ice. "Got it, this is all the stuff that was reported stolen." Officer Jenny announced as she checked the inside of the bag.

Now, Scere was utterly infuriated. They never liked it when someone, other than another Scere or a trustworthy pokemon, was checking through the stuff they effortfully stole. The Dark-type extended its arm and released a powerful Dark Pulse at Magnezone and the Arcanine. The defensive Pokemon were immediately hit with the dark energy and dark rings. "Magnezone!" Aaron called out in concern. "Arcanine!" The Scere ran over to the Officer Jenny speedily and snatched the bag out of her grip.

"No you don't! Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Pikachu dashed to Scere leaving behind a white a blur. The Rambunctious Pokemon utilized Mimic and performed a Quick Attack itself. Surprisingly, Scere struck Pikachu first with the Quick Attack. "What the?" Ash exclaimed. "Brock, doesn't Quick Attack usually hit first?" Max asked the experienced Pokeomb Breeder. "Yeah. But when two Pokemon use it at the same time, the faster one scores the hit." He explained. "Does that Scere is faster than Pikachu?" Dawn cried out in shock.

Indeed it was. Every time Ash, Officer Jenny, or Aaron ordered Pikachu, Arcanine, or Magnezone to attack, Scere would fluidly and dexterously evade all the attacks. There was big difference with a Scere holding triple its weight and a Scere without hindrance. "I've had it with this thing…" Ash growled, "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Aaron sharply turned his head to Ash, "No wait don't!"

Too late. Pikachu rushed at Scere with massive amounts of electricity forming a yellow sandpaper-like aura around itself. "Pika pika pika pika!" Scere retaliated by using Mimic. Charging speedily at the Volt Tackle-enhanced Pikachu, the Dark-type experienced the same changes in appearance and power. The Volt Tackles collided, creating a stalemate and a struggle for supremacy. Because of this, Volt Tackle's negative side effect of draining health constantly inflicted Pikachu and Scere. However, Scere was the first to give up because it wasn't adept to performing Volt Tackle. Pikachu saw the opportunity and struck the Dark-type. Scere landed yards away from its bag while Pikachu fell to the ground exhausted.

"That was too reckless, Ash." Aaron commented critically, "You gotta be more careful in these situations." Ash rolled his dark-colored eyes, "Right, right…"

Suddenly, a mechanical hand grabbed up the bag of items and lifted them to a hot-air balloon. "Oh, God." The group of young heroes uttered simultaneously.

"To protect the-"

"Stealing from a stealer, eh, Team Rocket?" Ian interrupted rudely, "How ironic." "How many times are ya twerps gonna interrupt our motto?" Meowth scolded, shaking a fist at Ian. "As many times as we want!" Ian wisecracked in counteraction. James took the bag out of the mechanical hand's grip and began to inspect it. "My, my, our little poacher has acquired some nifty little trinkets." He commented , took out one item, and placed it on his head, "This hat makes me look like some kind of detective."

And the thing was…that was Aaron's hat on his head.

"**TAKE**. **THAT**. **OFF!**"

Ian instantly went to the back of group out of fear while Magnezone's red eye dilated even more. "Mag…(Oh shit…)" A dark, flaming aura enveloped Aaron's normally cold and calculating façade. His brown eyes were glowing and devilishly red. "Oh, man, Aaron is mad to the max." Ash remarked fearfully. "It's always the cool ones to lose their cool more effectively." Brock commented timidly. "And I thought Misty was hotheaded." Max said uneasily.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, Misty!"

Team Rocket, the male members in particular, cowered inside the hot-air balloon basket. "Uh, Jimmy-boy?" Meowth meekly stated, "Maybe you should return dat." James timorously concurred, "Perhaps I should." Jessie intervened, "I don't care if that twerp's parents are dead! Don't give him anything and get that Scere!"

"…**..**"

"Uh-oh." Ian, Max, Brock, Ash, Misty, May, Dawn, Yoshino and Marina all said at the same time.

"Mag./Pika. (This is going to get ugly.)" The two Electric-types said.

"Magnezone…front and center." Aaron commanded in an alarmingly cool voice. The Magnet Area Pokemon gulped nervously and hesitantly complied with its trainer's command. Scere blinked its crimson eyes in confusion. It had no clue exactly what was going on. But, Team Rocket had its bag of items and he wanted it back. The Dark-type ran so that it was beside Magnezone. "If you want to join us, Scere, then make sure you make your moves count…" Aaron admonished with his voice still threateningly collected.

"Abrok, go!"

"Victreebel, come out!"

The Poison-type snake and the Grass/Poison plant appeared on the ground, viciously ready for battle. "Victreebel, Stun Spore!" James commanded. Scare's eyes glinted purple for a split-second and the Stun Spore suddenly redirected its course. Victreebel and Arbok were the ones who became infect with golden spores. "Magnezone, Hidden Power!" Aaron ordered. "Magne…" The Steel/Electric-type began to charge atom-shaped energy around its metallic body. "No you don't!" James stated and threw down another pokeball, "Weezing, get out there and use Flamethrower!" The Poison Gas Pokemon came out and exhaled a Flamethrower at the Hidden Power [Ice]. Both attacks instantly cancelled each other out.

Scere performed a Mimic; its gloves turned white as it released a gush of flames at the paralyzed Arbok and Victreebel. Arbok was able to evade, but paralysis inflicted Flycatcher Pokemon to the fullest. The Fire-type attack burned the poor Grass/Poision-type on contact. "Oh my darling Victreebel!" James cried out. "Abrok, Sludge Bomb that Scere!" Jessie commanded. "Sar-bok!" The snake pokemon discharged bullets of sludge at the undersized Dark-type. "Cover it, Magnezone." Aaron ordered. The Magnet Area Pokemon went in front of Scere and intercepted the Poison-type attack. Thanks to Steel-type's immunity to Poison, Magnezone was completely fine. "Weezing, Poison Gas!" James commanded. "Weezing." The Poison Gas Pokemon exhaled a toxic green smoke from its pores. The poisonous gas snaked its way to Scere and Magnezone. Once again, Scere performed Snatch to redirect the course of Poison Gas. Team Rocket's Pokemon were now the ones choking on their own attack.

"I've had enough of this…" Aaron stated in annoyance. "Magnezone, Hyper Beam!" Magnezone began to charge up yellow/orange energy in fron of it. Particles gathered together as they prepared to unleashed a reall deadly blast Scere jumped on top of Magnezone, extended its hands and prepared a Dark Pulse by gathering dark matter in its palms. Both Pokemon fired their respective attacks. Dark combined with Electric to form a thunderstorm of darkness. The combined powers absolutely decimated Team Rocket's pokemon, sending them straight back to them. The resulting explosion destroyed the balloon. "Well, when concerning the twerps," said James who wasn't wearing Aaron's hat, "I guess blast-offs are what takes the cake!" "Where'd you steal dat line? From David Letterman?" Meowth grumbled. "I wish my pride wasn't robbed and we had robbed that Scere!" Jessie shrieked."Wobbuffet!"

"We're blasting off again!" A twinkle was all that was left of Team Rocket.

The bag containing all the stolen items, including Aaron's hat fell from the sky. Scere jumped off Magnezone and caught the hat, but, unfortunately, the bag plummeted right on it from the heavy girth. "Sc…" It groggily whimpered under from its clothe imprisonment. All of a sudden, the great weight was lifted and Scere was able sit up again. Aaron, who was responsible for that, set the bag down and knelt down to Scere. "Listen, Scere…" Aaron said in a more reassuring octave, "I know stealing is your nature and all, but there are some things that are very valued by its owner. Remember how protective and disappointed when your bag was taken from you, that's how my friends and I felt when you took our stuff. So, I beg of you, return everything you stole."

Scere let the Orre resident's address of astuteness cement into its mind. When reality sunk in, the Dark-type hung its head low in guilt. "Scere…(Sorry…)" The Rambunctious Pokemon apologized and extended the headwear of remembrance to its proper owner. Aaron smiled thankfully, took back his hat, and placed it on his head. A lesson Scere had just learned will be something it will never forget.

**-LATER-**

Everyone was given back their stolen items; Ian's cape, Dawn's hair appliances, Brock's bag, Max's glasses, May's bandana, Misty's unmentionables, and among other stuff that belonged to other people. Now, Ash and company were bidding their final farewells at the exit to Firguson City. "Take care, Marina," Misty said, "keep doing a great job as a Gym Leader." "I will, Misty. You all take care and good luck in the rest of your Gym Battles and Pokemon Contests." Marina stated. "Bye!" The gang waved goodbye as they began to travel down the road.

"Scere!"

For a highly short second, that is. The Dark-type burglar that was recently encountered somehow caught up with the group. "Hey, it's Scere." Max pointed out. "I wonder what it wants." Dawn said. Scere approached everybody panting heavily and with its bag, deflated to the point it was now light as a feather, hanging loosely over its shoulder. "Scere Scere." It finally said. "What's that thing saying?" Ian questioned. "I think Scere wants to travel with us." Brock hypothesized. Scere nodded happily, signaling a correct answer from Brock. "Uh, I only train Steel-types so I can't take it." Aaron announced. "I'll take it." Ash declared and took out a spare Pokeball. "Welcome to the team, Scere." Ash said as tapped Scere's forehead with the button on the red and white mechanism. Scere dematerialized into infrared matter and was sucked into the electronic sphere.

A few twitches and a couple of red blinks happened. Eventually, it stopped completing Ash's acquisition of his first Dark-type.

Now, as the gang heads out, can they, with their newest addition to the crew, brave whatever lies ahead in the road on the way to Shiro Town.


	14. Halloween Special: What Lies In The Dark

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Halloween Special: What Lies In The Dark**

The evening befell the Tenla Region. Clouds of grey and skies of slate replaced the white clouds and normal blue sky from the afternoon. The ominousness of the change of scenery struck slight fear into our heroes.

Ash, Misty, Dawn, Brock, May, Max, Aaron, and Ian traversed the trail of a spooky glade. Darkened fog blanketed sections of the grass that were stripped of sunlight for the time being. "It's getting darker than usual." Max stated. "And colder." May commented hugging herself. Ian chuckled, unaffected by the ill-omened conditions, "What's wrong? Getting scared?"

"Be quiet, Ian." May retorted.

Then suddenly, treetops began to creep over the horizon. "Oh, great, a forest is coming up…" Aaron groaned. "This is gonna suck." Ash stated grimly. As the group ventured further to the entrance of the woods, sinister shadows appeared behind the group, enshrouded by the mist. Their glowing eyes leered at the fresh set of targets.

Once surrounded by nothing but woodland, the creepy milieu was actually enhanced and the darkness deepened scarily. The mist that was present in the glade peered through every gap in the botanical environment. The group was at the highest point their instincts could allow because they could not fathom what lied in the unknown.

"We sure picked a lousy time to go to a forest." Aaron spoke as he examined the sky. The grey clouds began to amalgamate sinisterly. A downpour was impending. Misty could not help her skin crawling; the lingering metonymy of malice was evident in all sides of the surroundings. That and she could've sworn she saw an apparition spying on them. "Ah, it isn't that bad." Ian countered. "Easy for you to say," Aaron replied, "You enjoy this kind of stuff."

"True." Ian shamelessly admitted.

To add to the mysterious setting, thunder began to roar in the blackening skies. Sending the nerves of those who are easily frightening are of their place. "N-no need to worry, right, guys?" Dawn said desperately trying to endure the chilling circumstances. As if on cue, small raindrops began to fall from the dark skies. "Yeah, that's when we start worrying." Brock said scornfully. With that, the gang increased their speed in hopes of finding shelter. They were in such a hurry, that they did not notice the moving shadows concealed with behind the plants.

Finally, the party made it to a cave in a secluded part of the forest. As dark as it may be, the cave would make do until the rain subsided. "Well, guess this is camp for tonight." Aaron deduced. "Heh, a dark and spooky cave in a dark night such as this…" Ian said. Whenever he was caught in situations such as these, he found himself more willing and adventurous. During the first years of his travelling career, he even enjoyed scaring people as if it was a hobby. To some extant, he still does. Of course, Aaron was right there to set him straight.

"Ian, please don't be so descriptive." Dawn requested in a quavery voice. "What's the matter, Dawn? Scared?" Ian asked sneeringly. "That's not funny, Ian!" Dawn snapped back. "All right, calm down, everyone." Misty said as she set up the lantern to light up the cavern.

She soon wished she hadn't.

When the lantern's fire lit up the dark halls, arrays of Ghost-type and/or Dark-type Pokemon were plentifully surrounding them. "WHOA!" Aaron and Ash cried out in surprise. "OH MY GOD!" Misty and Brock screamed at the top of her lungs. "AAAHHHH!" May and Dawn hugged each other in absolute fear. "Whoa! Look at the Ghost Pokemon!" Ian exclaimed elatedly. Yes, he was the only person in the predicament not exhibiting forms of fear or distress.

Before the heroes could react, the Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Drifloon, Drifblim performed Hypnosis. Lulling, hypnotic psi-waves suddenly traveled around the caverns. Slumber became imminent for those unfortunate to have the waves entered their senses. Ash and company were one of those misfortunate; they immediately fell to the ground sleeping. Then, the Gastly and Drifloon released a choking black Haze.

The Ghost- and Dark-type Pokemon's glowing eyes and malignant smirks could be seen in the smoke before it cleared away. And our heroes were no longer there…they were somewhere in the darkness of the unknown…

* * *

Ash's eyes finally opened up. His vision was blurry; he could not make out what surrounded him yet. "Where am I…?" He said as he sat up rubbing his head. "Better yet, what happened?" Finally, Ash could see his whereabouts: It appeared that he was in the middle of some kind of pathway. The dark brown ground was dirt and the walls were slate stone. He could neither see what was in front of him nor what was behind him; it was that dark. "Man, this is getting creepier by the second." Ash said.

"Pika…" Pikachu said groggily as it awakened. The electric mouse then noticed something about his trainer. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as it pointed to Ash's clothing. The raven-haired trainer look at what Pikachu was trying to point out. The colors of his attire were altered in which orange and black were the primary and secondary colors. "OK, who changed my clothes?" Ash asked in exclamation, addressing no one in particular. He also noticed something else, "And where my friends?" His head continuously shifted to look in every direction. He didn't hear anyone's voice nor could he see anyone. With an exasperate sigh, Ash stood up. "Come on, Pikachu, won't do any good just sitting here."

"Pika."

Ash and Pikachu began to venture into the dark unknown depths of the dungeon, unaware of the apparitions close behind him. "Man, what kind of place is this?" Ash questioned. "Pika. (Good question)" said Pikachu.

"Schizo…"

Ash and Pikachu literally froze in place as an evilly low sound made their spines tingle. "Wh-who's there?" Ash yelled. Sparks surged through Pikachu's cheeks, more so out of fear than preparation for battle. Ever so slowly, a floating entity began to reveal itself from the shadows. The nearer it drew, the more Ash and Pikachu's heart raced. Finally, a peculiar ghost-like entity revealed itself completely

"Schizo…" Its threateningly low voice said. The creature had a gold sphere in its very center and a red glowing eye on the sphere. A protruding gold rim made the crimson eye seemed like it was half-opened. Black, shadowy mass surrounded the gold center, shaped like a hurricane or even a spiral galaxy. "Wha-what is that?" Ash shakily took out his red PokeDex and pointed it at the sinister figure.

"**Schizo: The Apparition Pokemon. Each Schizo is found to have differently shaped black auras. They live wherever darkness is most prominent. Whenever that criterion is not met, they will shelter themselves underground or in walls."**

(A/N: "Schizo" [She-Zoh] is derived from the word '**schizo**typy' which is a psychological concept that describes hallucination or apparitional experiences.)

"Well, there's just one of them so we can take it down!" Ash optimistically declared. That bravado was immediately eliminated when hoards of Schizo appeared. True to its encyclopedia description, each Schizo's black aura had different shapes; including that of flower petals, triangles, and stars. "Scratch that," Ash said in trepidation, "A TRUCKLOAD OF THEM!" The scared trainer and mouse instantly fled for their lives. The Schizo slowly followed them, knowing they had home-field advantage.

May and Max traveled down a dark staircase ever so carefully. Just like Ash, their apparel's colorings were alternated to the ones that represented Halloween; orange and black. With darkness constantly surrounding them and seemingly open space encompassing a narrow staircase, much caution should be executed. "May, I'm scared…" Max said. "Don't be, Max, we'll get out of this." May consoled. "But with all those Ghost Pokemon and this dungeon, how are we?" Max said as an unknown figure close by crawled along the sides of the stairway. May could not answer that question. True, they were trapped at the mercy of darkness and they were traversing the mysterious.

"Well, Max, remember when Dad told us that on our journey, we should not worry about the situation we're in, think about how to get out of it." May explained. "Um, right…" Max distractedly replied. What distracted him was he thought he saw something stirring in the darkness in close proximity to the stairs. "Were you even listening?" May retorted. "Sort of. Something distracted me." The male sibling responded. May's nerves began to feel anxiety; _something _seemed to be following them. Quickly, May gripped her younger brother's hand and began to hasten their descent. "Max, try to keep up." May instructed. "OK."

The siblings made it the foot of the staircase and hurried straight down the pathway that preceded it. When they rounded a corner, they bumped into something. This prompted them to shriek in fear. "Not so loud will you?" A surprisingly human voice pleaded. Fear exited the siblings when they saw Aaron, with his attire's original color altered to that of Halloween colors. "Oh, Aaron…" May said in relief. "Are we glad to see you." Max pronounced happily. "Why is that?" Aaron asked curiously. "Well, Max said he saw something back there," said May, "and then we hauled ass out of there."

"Something, huh?" Aaron stated as he leered at the two siblings. "Did it look something like this?" This next action proved that they were actually negotiating with an enemy. "Aaron"'s body began to morph into a darker, quadrupedal spider-like creature. The main body possessed nothing but two murderous gold eyes and a crooked red smile. The legs were long and resembled that of a scythe's blade.

May and Max released blood-curdling screams at the vicious entity that just revealed itself to them. They backed up from the creature until their backs hit the stone wall. The creature simply stared at them, not making any advancements (possibly toying with them). Wanting to know what exactly they were dealing with, May took out her violet PokeDex and scanned the creature.

"**Çharade: The Shape-Shifter Pokemon. This dark pokemon is highly intelligent as it is able to morph its own appearance to that of other Pokemon or even humans."**

(A/N: "Çharade" [Sha-Rod] obviously comes from the word "charade" which can mean "imitation", "fake", and "simulation". This emphasizes its ability to change its appearance.)

Çharade began to threateningly crawl toward the terrified brother and sister. "Blaziken come out and attack that thing!" May spoke extremely quickly, and almost unintelligibly, and hurriedly threw out her Pokeball. The gadget popped out and summoned her Blaziken. Immediately noticing the threat before it, Blaziken attempted a fiery Blaze Kick at it. "Sha!" Çharade's size suddenly decreased immensely (Minimize) avoiding the Fire-type attack completely. Seemingly gone, May and Max quickly scurried past Blaziken leaving massive amounts of brown dust in their hurried footsteps' wake. "…Blaze? (…What the?)" Blaziken said as it watched as the weird-acting siblings run off. Unexpectedly, a thunderous stomp sounded behind it. When the Blaze Pokemon turned around to investigate, Çharade was there. The pure Dark-type was now thrice its normal size (Maximize). "BLAZIKEN!

(HOLY SHIT!)" The Fire/Fighting-type ran away, pursuing its companions.

Dawn, Aaron (with Magnezone), and Brock, the only people that actually woke up in a group, cautiously sauntered down a hall of light-colored translucent walls. This made this specific portion of the dark dungeon the only well-lit section. "OK, how in the world did we end up here?" Brock questioned as he studied the contrasting walls and his reflection in it. "Obviously the Ghost Pokemon." Aaron curtly responded. "I don't get it," Dawn asserted, "What do they want with us?"

"We were probably at the wrong place at the wrong time." Brock concluded.

"Hmph, I bet Ian is having the time of his life." Aaron said. Dawn look at the strategist strangely and responded, "What do you mean?"

"Ian's from Lavender Town of the Kanto Region aka the City of Poltergeists. He developed a habit of enjoying all things frightening." Aaron explicated. "Is that why he's such an A-hole?" Aaron shrugged, "Perhaps."

The dark-skinned Pewter City Gym Leader continued to survey the translucent walls. Something about it irked him. "Guys, don't these walls seem really odd to you?" Brock inquired. "What about it?" Dawn asked in rejoinder. "It almost seems like they're alive and something's moving within them…" Brock stated. "Peculiar indeed…" Aaron concurred. Magnezone's red eye began to examine the walls for itself; sure enough, sinister white smoke was churning within these translucent walls. "Mag…(Hmm…)" It droned in thought. Suddenly, something dark was briefly seen. The Steel/Electric-type stopped and sparked electricity in its magnets because there was a threat watching them. "What's up, Magnezone?" Aaron asked.

Abruptly, the translucent walls shattered and the thick white mist began to fill the room. "Aaron! Dawn! Can you two hear me?" Brock yelled in question. "Yeah, Brock, I-" Then, Dawn's screams of fear broke out. "Dawn!" The males exclaimed. "Forretress, get out here and Rapid Spin away this fog!" Brock threw out his Pokeball and Forretress came out. "Scizor, you help him out with Silver Wind!" Aaron threw his out and Scizor, surprisingly, materialized right beside the other Bug/Steel-types. Together, the duo of Bug/Steel-types rotated at high speeds. The drafts created by Forretress began to dissipate the fog while the Silver Wind Scizor was producing thinned at the mist.

Eventually, everything was _somewhat _clear again. The dungeon reverted to its preponderant state of darkness. For a split second, Aaron, Forretress, Brock, and Scizor could see Dawn being carried away by a dark-robed figure. "Dawn!" The humans exclaimed. Before they could pursue it, Shuppets, Misdreavus, and Mightyenas suddenly appeared in front of them. "Oh, man, we're blocked off!" Aaron yelled.

"Doesn't matter. Take 'em down, Forrtress!" Brock commanded.

"You too, Scizor!"

Scizor and Forretress charged at the Ghost-types and Dark-type blocking their path. The Pincer Pokemon slashed at Shupper and Misdreavus with a damaging Metal Claw. Forretress slammed into the Mightyenas with a forceful Rapid Spin. The scary pokemon immediately retreated when they realized they were dealing with powerful opposition. "Let's go!" Brock directed. "Right!"

"AHHH!"

Aaron and Brock instantly turned around and noticed Blaziken, May, and Max running toward them, scared out of their wits. "May?" Aaron asked. "Max?"Brock asked. "Forre?/Sciz? (Blaziken?)" The Bug/Steel-types asked. "Talk later, run now!/Blaze Blaziken!" The trio frantically stated as they hurried past the befuddled quartet. "Uhhh…" Brock and Aaron droned in uncertainty.

Well, they soon got their answer: rampaging, thunderous stomps coming adjacent to them. They slowly faced the unknown cause in horror. Their faces met a pair of intimidating gold eyes and a crooked, evil smile. "Sha…" A low guttural growl sounded

"AHHHH!" Scizor, Forretress, Aaron, Magnezone, and Brock immediately dashed after their fleeing friends with Çharade following them.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Scere, Dark Pulse! Gouzatile, Ember! NOW!"

An array of Electric-, Dark-, and Fire-type attacks exploded into the dark corridors of the stone dungeon. Some Schizo, in agony, retreated back into the stone and dirt only to be replaced by more brethren. "Pika Pika… (This is bad…)" Pikachu said grimly. "Schizo!" All of the Apparition Pokemon present began to charge darkness in front of their gold centers. They discharged a collective amount of Shadow Balls. Most connected onto the walls or the ground, rocking the dungeon in its foundation. Others were aimed directly at Ash and his Pokemon. "Run, guys!" Ash commanded as he sprinted as fast as he could. Pikachu, Scere, and Gouzatile followed suit.

They kept running and running, traveling further into the darkness while the Schizo floating behind them in pursuit. Suddenly, an abnormality could be seen dead ahead in the shadows: a large oval-shaped door with a stained-glass format. "What's that up ahead?" Ash wondered. A Shadow Ball whizzed his head, narrowly connecting upon his head. Fearfully, he jogged faster while his Pokemon trailing behind. Finally, they reached the door, opened it, went inside, and slammed it shut in the faces of the Schizo.

Panting heavily and out of relief, Ash asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"Pika…(I guess…)"

"Scere. (Fine.)"

"Gou…(Hmph…)"

"All right, guys, let's-AHHH!" A pair of brown arms suddenly protruded from the door and wrapped tautly around Ash. Before his pokemon could react, they were suddenly frozen in their place by an Ice Beam. "Dusknoir…(Do not interfere…)" The brown, ghostly Gripper Pokemon said forebodingly as it revealed itself from behind Ash. A Froslass hovered above the trapped Pokemon who were struggling to destroy their icy prison.

They caught the site of some sort of ebony, decayed, stony church. A floating, robed figure stood in front of a crimson cross and scarlet manger. On the cross was a tied up, unconscious Misty and lying in the manger was an unconscious Dawn. "Misty! Dawn!" Ash called out to in alarm. No response whatsoever. He diverted his attention to the robed figure, "Hey, douche bag! Let them go!" He demanded heatedly. The robed entity turned around to face Ash with a glowing, menacing red eye.

The entity was garnished with a brown flowing robe (almost like the kind Grim Reapers stereotypically wear) and with the hood covering its head. The aforementioned eye was visible out of the hood. A silver metallic hand/claw, which is supposedly its right hand, could be seen. The cuffs of the right sleeve were torn at the wrist. The left sleeve was unnecessarily long so it covered the entity's left hand. The hems of the robe seem to flow like smoke or darkness. Under the hood, the same symbol a Duskull had on its back was present there.

"Yeah, you!" Ash barked, "I'm talking to-" The dark being suddenly summoned a scythe; its blade was long and blood red and its shaft was pitch-black. Dark energy encompassed the scarlet metal on the scythe and was swung, releasing an air-cutting Night Slash at the impaired Ash.

"Scizor, Protect!" A burgundy/red Bug/Steel-type suddenly dashed in front of Ash and made a green dome surround it. The Night Slash was blocked completely by Protect and the excess light produced from it caused Dusknoir and Froslass to retreat to the nearest darkness in the vicinity. "Ash, you OK?" Aaron questioned as he, Brock, Max, and May hurried over. Blaziken, Forretress, and Magnezone were close by, keeping an eye out for the Çharade. "I'm fine, but that guy over there has Dawn and Misty!" Ash announced as he pointed to the dark being levitating to Misty and positioning its scythe alarmingly close to her body.

"Magnezone, Thunderbolt!"

"Forretress, Double-Edge!"

The Magnet Area's magnet exerted a tremendous amount of voltage while Forretress gained a pinkish aura and rotated hastily to the shady character; Magnezone's Thunderbolt followed it. Noticing the threat contradicting its duty, the unknown entity turned around with its scythe now an airy silver color, swung it, and released a windy shockwave (Air Slash) at the attacks. Forretress's Double-Edge was cancelled and Magnezone's Thunderbolt dissipated. "Wha-what is that thing?" Max questioned as he hid behind her sister. May took out her violet PokeDex and pointed it at the entity.

"**Duskassin: The Assassin Pokemon. The secondary evolved form of Dusclops. Duskassin is said to have been created from a purgatorial dimension and constantly hounds the living world to bring souls to said place."**

(A/N: "Duskassin" [Dusk-a-sin] is a combination of the words "**dusk**", emphasizing its Ghost/Dark-type characteristics and togetherness with the Duskull evolutionary line, and "ass**assin**")

"No way in hell I'm letting it take those two." Ash vowed through gritted teeth. "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" He commanded. The electric mouse dashed at Duskassin with an immense electrical aura enveloping it. The Ghost/Dark-type raised its metal hand and snapped the claws, interestingly creating a regular snap. Shuppet, Drifloon, and Gastly suddenly appeared in front of the Volt Tackle-induced Pikachu and use a unified Disable. A blue sound wave forcibly made the Volt Tackle disappeared. Duskassin got in front and smacked Pikachu back to Ash with shaft of its scythe. Ash caught his most prize pokemon before it fell to the ground, "Pikachu, you all right?" "Pika…"

"Duska…(Come on out by brethren…)" Duskassin said in a spooky, whisper-like tone, "Duskassin…(Come enjoy the demolition of these outsiders and offering to my lord…)" Then, almost every Ghost and Dark type ever found before Tenla revealed themselves in many different methods. Gengars, Gastlys, Haunters, Drifloon, Drifblims, Misdreavus, Mismagius, Shuppets, Banettes, Schizo, Mightyenas, Absols, a Froslass, Duskulls, a Dusclop and Dusknoir, Sableyes, and Murkrows were among these pokemon. They filled up the room and surrounded our heroes indefinitely. Their dark bodies and glowing eyes immediately made fear outcome the remainder of their emotions. To top it all off, from vicinity of Duskassin, two extremely long legs appeared and stabbed into the ground near the bundled Pokemon Trainers/Coordinators. A Maximized Çharade appeared, finishing off the meeting of darkness.

"This is not good," Aaron stated dismally, "Not good one bit." May and Max cuddled each other for protection against the scariest type of pokemon ever created. Brock and Ash had many thoughts going through their heads, as if their life was flashing through in their minds. The Pokemon were powerless to attempt to take on army of powerful Ghost- and Dark-types. And everyone could only watch in horror as Duskassin's blood red scythe's attention was on Misty and Dawn.

"Everyone, Shadow Ball now!"

All the murderous pokemon looked in shock to see a rain of Shadow Balls colliding against their bodies. "Duska? (What is the meaning of this?)" Duskassin roared in question. "How do you do, ladies and gentlemen?" A familiar, outgoing voice echoed throughout the unholy chapel. "Ghouls and ghosts, Ian Darusu of Lavender Town is in the house!" Ian, with the aforementioned change of clothes and standing on a stone ledge, announced. His of team of Pokemon, Gengar, Spiritomb, Houndoom, Weavile, Mismagius, and Drifblim, standing valiantly beside him.

"Ian!" Aaron, Ash, May, Max, and Brock called out in complete relief. All of the Ghost and Dark pokemon glared at Ian and his pokemon venomously. "OK, you rejects, rule number 1." Ian said as he descended on his Drifblim. When he and the rest of his Pokemon landed, he continued, "Never, and I mean _never_, threaten by peeps like this." Brazenly, the Ghost-type enthusiast began to approach the opposing Ghost- and Dark-types. "Rule numero do, don't you ever, ever, _ever_ knock me out and then try to scare me, it ain't happening."

The Lavender Town resident stood approached the Duskassin until dark grey eyes met a glowing crimson eye. "Last but not least…I…" Ian closed his eyes for split-second creating a tense silence in the surroundings. When he reappeared, _the _scariest thing that could happen to someone's iris happened. "I am the only one who can scare my friends!" He said. Ian's normal dot-pupil was now transformed into a slit-feral pupil. The Assassin Pokemon jumped slightly in surprise.

"Drifblim, Silver Wind! Houndoom, Flamethrower!" Ian commanded. The Ghost/Flying-type Balloon Pokemon flapped its four wings and whipped up a gust of silvery scales. The Dark Pokemon released a gush of flames from its muzzle that combined with the Silver Wind. The combo connected against the majority of the Ghost- and Dark-types. A fraction of those hit retreated in cowardice and/or pain. Çharade tried to retaliate with a Glare but Ian saw it coming. "Weavile, Ice Punch that creature's legs!" He commanded. The Sharp Claw Pokemon charged at the Shape-Shifter quickly and punched one of the legs of the Dark-type. Çharade's Glare was immediately stopped cold as the searing pain delivered ever so quickly. Weavile proceeded to do the same to the remaining three legs.

"Finish it off with Focus Blast, Gengar!" The Shadow Pokemon created a sphere of ivory energy and fired the concentrated blast at the trapped Çharade. "SHAAA!" The Shape-Shifter Pokemon roared in agony as the super-effective shot dealt damage throughout its nervous system in totality. Çharade eventually drifted away in darkness. "All right, Ian!" Aaron cheered. "Get 'em, dude!" Ash encouraged.

Seeing the how quickly its dark armada was being vanquished, Duskassin hurriedly went over to the sacrificial site and made both the manager and the cross glow brightly. "No you don't! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded as he pointed at the Assassin Pokemon. The diminutive mouse fired an electrifying Thunderbolt at the Ghost/Dark-type saw it coming and evaded the attack. As a result, the Thunderbolt an act of friendly fire on Dawn and Misty. Their awakening was also evident by the screams they made. "Oh crud…" Ash said nervously.

"WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR PROBLEM, ASH KETCHUM?" They screamed out in pain/rage. "Uhh, nothing!" Ash stammered. "Dawn, Misty, watch out!" Ian notified as he commanded his Spirtomb to use a Water Pulse/Calm Mind combo on some of Duskassin's army. Quizzically, the respective blunette and orange-haired girl looked around (not only noticing the change of scenery) and saw the Assassin Pokemon charging at them with its scarlet and ebony scythe ready to execute its next sacrifice. Now, they shrieked out of fear for their lives. "Scizor! Magnezone! Save them!" Aaron quickly ordered. Both Steel-types immediately got in front of the trapped females and stopped Duskassin's progression. Infuriated, Duskassin's shadowy body stretched and form multiple versions of itself (Double Team), forming a form circle around the ceremonial location, the Pokemon, and the girls. "Scizor! (Magnezone, watch them!)" Scizor instructed as he walked to over the blood-colored manger. The Bug/Steel-type snapped off Dawn's bindings with its claws. Duskassin and its clone raised their scythes and swished out a Night Slash. The Electric/Steel-type used Hidden Power [Ice] to fend off the attack.

Scizor, using its great dexterity, made to where Misty was positioned on the cross. But before it could free her, a rope of phantasmal darkness grabbed it and slammed it down on the hard floor. "Scizor!" Aaron called out in alarm. Suddenly, another cord of ghostliness wrapped and tied around Aaron. The same began to happen to May, Max, Blaziken (who was actually fending off Schizo and Gastly), Ash and his Pikachu, and Brock. The entities responsible for that were some Schizo that had a cable extending from its golden center. (A/N: This move is called "Dark Whip").

"Magne! Mag! (Aaron! Scizor!)" Magnezone shouted out in alert. With this little window of distraction, Duskassin and its clones swung their scythes and collectively unleashed another Night Slash at Magnezone. The Magnet Area was hit and fell to the ground for a Schizo to ensnare it with Dark Whip. Ian and his Pokemon finally became aware of the fact that their friends were immobilized again, and Schizo began to surround them. Ian growled menacingly, "I don't think so. Spiritomb and Mismagius, Pain Spilt them all!"

Spritomb and Mismagius's eyes glowed an eerie violet color and emitted an energy wave from their bodies. This soundwave affected every Pokemon in the vicinity. The opposing Ghost- and Dark-type and the gang's Pokemon had their respective energy/conditions siphoned. Pain Split transferred these statuses; the allying pokemon were given supreme and healthy conditions while the opposing Ghost and Dark (Duskassin, Schizo some Gastly, and some Absols to be exact) gained unfortunately tired and worn out conditions. As a result of using Pain Spilt, Mismagius and Spiritomb also gained the negative states and fell to the dirt with swirls of discontinuity in their eyes. "Good enough, you two." Ian commented and pulled out both of their particular pokeballs, "Return." Infrared beams of energy recalled them back into the device at a molecular level.

Duskassin unexpected change of condition caused it to dispel its clones. Scizor finally managed to get back up, free Misty, and carefully guided her back to safe ground. Magnezone escorted Dawn away from the manger. The Ghost-type trainer rushed to his friends and asked, "You two OK?" Before they could positively respond, they noticed Ian's transformed eyes. They exclaimed and hit Ian with hammers they somehow managed to obtain via hammerspace. "Owwwwww…." He groaned in pain as two huge bumps obstructed his cranium. The remainder of the group met them and asked similar questions, all getting a positive response.

"Now to finish Duskassin off." Ash said as he faced the Ghost/Dark-type. The Assassin Pokemon hovered tiredly in the air with its scythe rest on its shoulders. Approximately 20 Schizo floated behind him, and two Absols were stationed below him (all in similar conditions to their master). "Let's try this again. Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Ash commanded. "Blaziken, Overheat!" May ordered. "Magnezone Flash Cannon!" Aaron enjoined.

Pikachu hurtled at Duskassin with a gigantic electrical aura wrapping around the Electric-type. Duskassin retaliate by using forming a torpedo-shaped orange/yellow aura around it (Giga Impact) and lunged at the Volt Tackle-induced Pikachu. The Flame Pokemon unleashed a great amassment of fire at the Schizo and immediately KO'd them. Magnezone fired a silver burst of iron energy and instantly poleaxed the Absols into submission. Eventually, Pikachu and Duskassin's struggle ceased when The Mouse Pokemon managed to overpower the Assassin Pokemon. "DUSKA!" The Ghost/Dark-type howled in pain as the vast quantities of voltage and power overtook its phantasmal body. As it too began to fade away, the darkness fizzed up like carbonated soda.

The darkness from Duskassin's diminishing body began to scatter across the confines of the chapel. Eventually, darkness once again championed everyone's sight and they were once again rendered unconscious…

* * *

The gang awakened from their unconscious state of mind with tired and confused moans and groans. Unlike the last time they were knocked out, they were actually transported to a valued location; the exit to the forest. Noticing this, Ash sat up and said, "Hey, we're back in the forest."

"Thank the Lord…" Dawn groaned appreciatively. Everybody recalled their respective pokemon (excluding Magnezone and Pikachu) into their Pokeballs.

"Hey, where's Ian?" Misty spoke up in question. She was right; the Lavender Town resident was nowhere to be found. They looked around the premises for him, no trances at all. Aaron stated, "I wonder where he could-"

Suddenly, a thick ominous purple mist surrounded them. Then, a Gengar, Mismagius, Drifblim, and Spiritomb came out. They were using Scary Face, Pain Split, and Ominous Wind and created a perfect rendition/illusion of a gang of murders approaching the hapless heroes. Their vocal cords released high-pitched screams of bloody murder as silhouettes of enshrouded weaponry appeared in the illusion. Before the dark finisher could be delivered, it was interrupted by…hearty chortling?

Gengar, Drifblim, Mismagius, and Spiritomb dispelled the illusion to reveal the Ghost-type trainer laughing his heart out. "My God, the expressions on your faces were _priceless_!" He said in between hysterical laughs. Apparently, Ash, Aaron, Brock, Misty, May, Max, and Dawn were the victims of an extremely cruel practical joke.

And, Arceus, did they _NOT _like that.

Ian, in the middle of his self-centered jamboree, failed to notice that darkened, enraged, and disgusted auras of his friends were towering about him; ready to unleash unholy hell on him. "Uh…guys?" He weakly stated, trepidation entirely evident. The pissed off gang of trainers, breeders, and coordinators cracked their knuckles and pounced on Ian. "Hey, come on guys IT WAS JUST A JO-OW! COME-OUCH! STOP! STOOP! PLEASE! AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Finally, Ian's terrified screams became an addition to the deadly forest, but his trustworthy friends caused it rather than a group of murderous pokemon.


	15. DisoBurmyEnt

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Diso-Burmy-Ent**

Ash and company made it to the confines of a hilly plain. The lumps were smooth and the surroundings were spacious. Naturally, it would a prime selection for a break for both humans and Pokemon. After they set up the tables and equipment for Brock to prepare a mid-afternoon lunch, the fun part began.

"Scere, Fearow, Gouzatile! I choose you!"

"Azumarill, Transpy, Starmie, Staryu! Lunch time!"

"Toxicroak, Sudowoodo, Happiny, and Forretress! Time to chow down!"

"Blaziken, Glaceon, Munchlax! Come on out!"

"Magnezone, Scizor, Lucario, Empoleon, and Mawile! Have some fun!"

"Piplup, Bochick, Buneary, and Pachirsu! Up and at 'em!"

"Houndoom, Mismagius, Gengar, Weavile, and Drifblim! Join in!"

All varies of Pokemon from their respective owners popped out of their prisons and we freed entirely out into the open. The festivities began. First, the pokemon were treated with delicious Pokemonn food. Munchlax, being the glutton is was, practically inhaled all of its food. Scere, even though it was eating more than it could handle, attempted to steal food from other's plate. Gouzatile charred its food slightly and ate it, giving a more poignant taste. Scizor and Lucario did not eat and simply acted like "watch dogs" for everyone. Misty fed her Water Pokemon, who were in a nearby pool, by hand. Fearow flew above head playing a little game with its trainer; Ash slingshot-ed Pokemon Food to the Normal/Flying-type in different directions to see if it could catch it.

Aaron was inspecting a small-sized Pokeball in between his middle and index finger. He seemed be troubled and deep in thought as he looked at it. "What'cha got there, Aaron?" May suddenly asked him from behind. Although surprised at the suddenness, Aaron kept his cool and replied, "Oh, just a Pokemon that doesn't need to be let out." The Petalburg resident went to his side and asked, "Why not?" Aaron responded, "If I showed you, you and everyone else here would regret it completely."

"Oh come now. It can't be _that _bad." May rebutted as she tried to grab the Pokeball from Aaron's hands. The Steel-type specialist pulled back his hands to prevent May from unleashing the beast. "I'm serious, May!-Hey, quit that-Stop!" The two continued to their little childish struggle.

"Um…" Ian chimed, "Aaron, May, from me and Max's point of view…it's look like you two are-" A pot was immediately thrown at his head from the direction of the two coordinators. "OW!" The recipient shrieked in pain. "Ian, some things are better left unsaid." Max said whilst shaking his head.

Finally, May managed to snatch the pokeball out of Aaron's grasp. "Give it back, May!" Aaron demanded as she jumped on her. May shrieked at the sudden aggression Aaron was emitting and out of surprise. Scizor leaned on a tree trunk with its claws and arms crossed over his chest as he watched the two coordinators duke it out over a simple machine, "Scizor Scizor Sciz…(That is rather childish of them…)" May's Blaziken, who was lounging on the tree branch just above Scizor, concurred, "Blaze. (Indeed.)"

In the midst of their struggle, the pokeball popped out of the duo's proximity, causing them to stop and look. The pokeball landed directly on the button which would release the pokemon held inside it. The red and white mechanism popped open as white light shot out from its internal contents. When the light disappeared, a Pokemon materialized; it could be generalized as a bagworm except with a pink cloak that was fashioned like a mane. "Burmy." The pokemon squeaked out innocently.

"Ohhh, it's so cute." May commented with her eyes shimmering in admiration. Aaron, conversely, was on the edge of hysterics and it was obvious from the grim look in his eyes. Scizor's forehead met the middle of his claw as he groaned, "Scizor…(Oh you've got to be kidding me…)". Blaziken looked down the Bug/Steel combination quizzically, "Blaze? (What's wrong?)" Scizor looked up at the Fire/Fighting-type combination and responded, "Scizor. (Let's just say there's a reason why Aaron wanted to keep that thing in its pokeball.)" The Blaze Pokemon jumped down from the tree and landed beside the Pincer Pokemon, "Blaziken. (Then let's get it and return it.)"

Ian watched the dubious Princess of Hoenn fawn over the pure Bug-type, "I'm surprised that thing hasn't gone ludicrous yet…" He said. Max looked at the Lavender Town resident curiously and questioned, "Oh? It's supposed to?"

"Just watch and learn, dearest Maximillion."

"….Don't call me by that wretched name."

"I don't see why you wanted to keep this cutie away from me, Aaron." May said as nuzzled her cheek against Burmy's. "You'll see soon enough…" Aaron muttered in response and then contemplated, _"Although I expected Burmy to go berserk that the thought of freedom…Perhaps I should take this opportunity to return it." _Staying true to what he said, the Steel-type trainer picked up Burmy's pokeball and aimed at it the Bug-type. "Alright. Burmy re-"

"SCIZ/BLAZE! (YOU'RE MINE!)" Two Pokemon voices exclaimed. Burmy, as if the sudden shock triggered a switch in its mind, zipped hyperactively from May's grasp. "What the-" May was interrupted when her Blaziken and Aaron's Scizor accidentally landed on her. "Sciz! (You see?)" Scizor stated as it immediately jumped off the floored coordinator. "Blaze! (Shut up and catch it!)" Blaziken retorted as he and Scizor began pursuing the unleashed Bug-type.

Max blinked as he adjusted his glasses and then droned dumbfounded, "Uhhhhhh…" Ian spoke, "See? Now just keep watching."

As Blaziken and Scizor continued to chase the hyper Bug-type, this captured the attention of some of the other Pokemon. "Mawile…(Oh not again…)" Mawile groused unhappily. "Azu? (What's the matter?)" Misty's Azumarril questioned, looking at the pure Steel-type. "Mawile. (That Burmy is rather dangerous to be around, we need to capture it.)" Mawile answered as she stood up on her feet. "Azu? (How dangerous are we talking?)" Azumarril questioned once more. "Maw. (Let's just say that Burmy is the only one in existence to know String Shot)." The Deceiver Pokemon answered as she jogged over to attempt to assist Blaziken and Scizor.

"Scizor! (You're not getting away!)" The Bug/Steel-type roared as its burgundy claws illuminated in silver light and shot them forward. The hyperactive Burmy leaped over the Metal Claw and landed on Scizor's head. "SCIZ! (GET IT OFF ME!)" The Pincer Pokemon demanded it tried to get the Bagworm Pokemon off of it. "Blaze! (Hold still!") Blaziken demanded as it performed Blaze Kick. Burmy, amazingly, saw it coming and jumped off Scizor's head, causing the latter to be the recipient of the attack. Scizor fell the floor and rolled ever in pain whilst clutching its head, "SCIZ SCIZOR! (OW YOU IDIOT!)"

"Blaze. (Oops.)" The Fire/Fighting combination said unable to rectify his mistake. Then it heard the excited chirping from the pure Bug-type and dashed away. However, the minute it moved its legs, it fell to the ground. "Blaze! Blaziken? (Ow! What the hell was that?)" The Blaze Pokemon saw that both of its legs were entangled between ropes of silk. "Blaze…. (Just perfect….)" Blaziken mumbled with its voice dripping with sarcasm and agitation.

Burmy slithered slowly across the smooth glass, humming contently to itself for some reason. Suddenly however, a certain Deceiver Pokemon popped into its view. "Mawww~! (Hiii~!)" Mawile melodically greeted. Burmy simply blinked with an unaltered expression. "Mawile? (Enjoying time out of your Pokeball?)" Mawile asked sweetly whilst keeping her hands behind her back. The Bagworm Pokemon with a mane of pink insulation nodded happily. Little did it know, Misty's Azumarill was slowly creeping up behind it in order to snag it in a bag. "Maw. Mawile. (Excellent. That's good to hear.)" The pure Steel-type chimed and then asked, "Mawile? (Hey, you wanna play a game?" Burmy once again nodded hyperactively and excitedly.

"Maw! (OK!)" Mawile said, "Mawile. (Now close your eyes and don't move until I tell you.)" Obediently, Burmy closed its gold-amber eyes oblivious to the Aqua Mouse Pokemon approaching it from behind. "Maw. Mawile. (Good. Just keep that up.)" Mawile directed with its voice dripping with deceit. She also gestured Azumarill to increase its pace. Nodding, the pure Water-type Pokemon jumped up and attempted to bag the Bagworm Pokemon.

"BLAZE/SCIZ! (DIE!)" Two voices shouted, causing Burmy to zip away frightened. Scizor and Blaziken nailed the spot where Burmy formerly was with a Metal Claw and Sky Uppercut respectively. Azumarril accidentally bagged Mawile instead of the speedy Burmy. "Azu! (What are you two doing?)" Azumarril interrogated unhappily as it tried to remove the bag off of the flailing Mawile. "Scizor! (Trying to get that Burmy!)" Scizor replied. "Azu! (We had it until you guys interrupted!)" Azumarril retorted.

"Blaze! (It's getting away!)" Blaziken informed as it tried to sprint away. However, it brought Scizor, Azumarril, and Mawile down with it as it tumbled back to the ground. Once again, the Pokemon's legs were tangled by thick strings of silk, and it extended over to parts of the other pokemon to create a big mess. "Blaze! (Oh come on!)"

Lucario, who was in adjacency to Pikachu and Munchlax, open its right eye to see Burmy scurrying about in the distance. Pikachu noticed this and questioned the Steel/Fighting-type, "Pika? (What's up?) " Lucario soundlessly pointed at the pure Bug-type, "(That thing…it's been a while since I last saw it free.)" The Electric-type said, "Piiiiika…Pikachu? (Uhh…What do you mean?)" The Aura Pokemon answered, "(Burmy is unintentionally violent and its indiscipline frustrates the Shadow Family. We do what we can to make sure it stays quarantined, but when it gets out, it is nothing but trouble and strife.)"

Pikachu objected, "Pika Pi! (Oh come on, it can't _that _bad!)" As if on an unfortunate cue, Burmy appeared out of nowhere and wolfed down the remainder of the Pokemon Food for Munchlax, disheartening the Big Eater Pokemon.

Lucario looked down at the mouse and stated, "(You were saying?)"

"Pika…(Oh brother…)"

Because Munchlax dearly loved food and wanted to consume everything in front of it, an insatiable rage overwhelmed it. "Muuuuunch….(You ate….)" The Normal-type growled in a dangerously low voice. Burmy, however, was not intimidated at all. It merely looked at the oppressor with an incomprehensible face. "LAX! (MY FOOD!)" That is when Munchlax charged up a Focus Punch and launched it at the Bagworm Pokemon. Burmy speedily evaded and ran off with the enraged Big Eat Pokemon pursuing it.

Pikachu looked at Lucario and asked, "Pikachu? (Should we?)"

Lucario bluntly answered, "(No.)"

Munchlax continued to chase the hyperactive Burmy. Their chase led them to another group of Pokemon. Ash's Scere was sneaking up behind Gouzatile in order to snag its meal. However, Burmy suddenly passed by it and knocked Scere directly onto Gouzatile's tail. The Lizard Pokemon, out of surprise, unleashed an Ember upon Dawn's Bochick from behind. The Chick Pokemon jumped up in shock as it felt the burning sensation plague it.

Then, Bochick turned around to face Gouzatile and began chirping angrily at the Fire-type. Gouzatile, being a stereotypically hotheaded Fire-type, argued back. Scere regained its composure and started to register what happened. Running from them was the infamous Bagworm Pokemon with the Big-Eater Pokemon chasing with a Focus Punch ready. Curiously, the Rambunctious Pokemon got in-between Bochick and Gouzatile, grabbed them, and joined in the chase while dragging the two starter Pokemon

Meanwhile, Transpy, Starmie, Staryu, Empoleon, and Piplup were busy enjoying themselves in the nearby pond. "Tran…(This is the life…)" Transpy chimed contently. "Hiya (That is why Water-types have the best enjoyment.)" Starmie boastfully said.

Then unexpectedly, Burmy skipped and dashed until it came to a complete stop, resting before the group of Water Pokemon. "Trans? (What the?)" Transpy chimed whilst blinking its eyes. Staryu and Starmie questioningly looked at the seemingly innocent Bug-type Pokemon while Empoleon and Piplup gawked restlessly.

Soon enough, the sounds of stampeding feet rocked the vicinity. All of the Water-type Pokemon immediately faced the direction where the thunderous noises were originating from. "BLAZE! (THERE IT IS!)" Blaziken shouted. "Scizor! (DON'T LET IT GET AWAY!)" The cluster of agitated pokemon was approaching at blazing speed; enough to put the Water-types into a field day. Transpy, Stayru, Starmie, Empoleon, and Piplup screamed as they hurriedly moved/jumped out of the way.

The raging group leapt at the still Bagworm Pokemon; however, it was waiting patiently until the last minute to quickly dash out of the way. This resulted in the entire group of Pokemon to fall into the pond. Burmy, proud of its work, rewarded itself by laughing hysterically and rolling around on the ground near the pond.

Empoleon gazed uneasily at the laughing Bug-type and muttered, "Empoleon…? (What's Burmy doing out of its Pokeball…?)" Mawile poked its head out of the surface and shouted, "MAW! (IT DOESN'T MATTER!)" Azumarril poked its head right beside the Deceiver Pokemon and ordered, "Azu! (Just catch it!)"

"(On it!)" Staryu and Starmie shouted in acknowledgement. The pure Water-type discharged from the upper tip of one of its arms a beam of water while the Water/Psychic-type released a gush of spiraling water from its upper tip. Halting its laughter, Burmy once again evaded out of the line of fire. Instead, the aquatic attacks were heading for the group in the pond. Some of which were getting out only to be sent back in by the misfire; others were washed out once more.

"Hiya…(Yikes…)"

"Hi…(Oops…)"

Burmy landed elsewhere, but unfortunately for it, the Bug-type was surrounded by Aaron's Empoleon, Dawn's Piplup, and Misty's Transpy. "(You're mine!)" The three growled as they attempted to tackle and subdue it. Burmy once again jumped out of the way and the trio crashes into each other's heads. ("OW!") After that one last blunder, the Bagworm Pokemon fled away.

Scizor hissed vehemently as it crawled out of the small body of water. "Munchlax! (There it goes!)" The Normal-type pointed out as it jumped out of the water. "Blaziken Blaze? (Then why are we just standing here?)" Blaziken stated. After seconds of recuperation, the group continued their pursuit after the fleeing Pokemon.

Brock finished putting away his cooking utensils, but not before noticing something weird. "Hey, guys? Where are the majority of our Pokemon?" Brock surveyed. The rest other trainers looked quizzically around only to see that the Pewter City Gym Leader was right. At least a fraction of the usually present Pokemon was not in sight. "Hey, you're right…" Ash said as he stood from his seat. Ian looked at Max and said, "Alright, looks like the show is just about to end." Max regulated his glasses before saying, "That so?"

The Ghost-type coordinator stood and said, "Yup." Then, he and the younger Maple sibling joined the rest of their friends in their short search for their missing Pokemon. Lucario sighed, "(Well, it's time to put an end to this charade, Pikachu.)" Pikachu said in a hushed tone, "Pika. (I really don't like the way you said that.)" The two then shortly joined their masters.

"(GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PUNK!)"

"(HOLD STILL DAMMIT!)"

"(MAKE IT EASIER ON YOURSELF AND US!)"

The rampant assemblage consisting of Scizor, Blaziken, Mawile, Azumarril, Gouzatile, Bochick, Scere, Muchlax, Transpy, Empoleon, Piplup, Staryu, and Starmie were hot on the trail of the hyperactive Burmy. The latter viewed all of this as a game that it enjoyed and wanted to win, obvious by the fact that an elated expression is plastered on its face.

Then, a towing rocky barrier came into view. The Bagworm Pokemon's eyes widened in shock as it skid to a spot with nowhere else to run. The chasing creatures lined up horizontally and panted heavily. They were grateful for the fact that fate had enough of its childish hunt and stopped Burmy from further movement.

Like a leading military officer, Scizor pointed its right claw at the trapped Burmy and hollered, "(CHARGE!)" Collectively, the Pokemon leapt at the Burmy, some covering the side, some covering the sky, and some covering the ground.

On cue, all of the trainers made it to the scene and witnessed the event occurring. "What are they doing?" Misty questioned. "They seem to be…," Dawn gawked at the cornered Bug-type, "Ganging up on that Burmy!"

Before any other course of action could be taken, the mischievous Burmy unleashed sprays of sticky, adhesive white silk from its mouth. Because of the adjacency, one-by-one the whole group of raging pokemon was trapped in String Shot's clutches. A big mess of scattered Pokemon and white silk was the result from the Bagworm Pokemon finished its retaliation. Lucario crouched down to Pikachu's level and whispered, "(You would have been apart of that hadn't I dissuaded you.)" Pikachu said, "Pika. (Glad I trusted your judgment.)"

"Whoa…" Dawn commented, "Look at all that carnage…" May looked at the prancing Burmy until it collapsed out of exhaustion suddenly, "All because of that little thing…"

"You guys help out the Pokemon," Aaron commanded as he walked past the "wall" of silk and Pokemon and toward his exhausted Burmy. Picking it up, Aaron then slightly shook it in hopes of waking it, "Hey, Burmy. I know you aren't tired, so wake up." Fulfilling its trainers' demand, albeit in an undesired way, Burmy awakened itself and shot the lasts bits of String Shot it had today at Aaron's head, wrapping in it's a cocoon. The Bagworm Pokemon chuckled weakly, thinking its orphaned master had its weird sense of humor, before fainting once again.

Misty, May, Ash, Brock, Ian, Dawn, and Max felt a sweatdrop grace the back of their heads as they watched the scene owlishly. "That is one weird Pokemon…" Ash commented. "No kidding…" Dawn concurred.

**-LATER-**

Aaron picked off the last bits of silk invading his brown hair and hat. Although he tried to suppress it, a hint of an agitated scowl was appearing on its face. "Start talking, Aaron." Misty ordered as she used a comb to weave out the silk from her Water-type Pokemon. With a heavy sigh, Aaron explained, "Certainly…My Burmy has a behavioral problem. She thinks it's a game and is hyper all the time for no apparent reason. In the midst of its hyperactivity, it causes all sorts of damage. So, my family and I make a habit of keeping Burmy in its Pokeball so that we don't suffer damages."

"Then why did you keep it?" Dawn inquired as she pulled the silk off of her Piplup's head. "Because a female Trash Cloak Burmy evolves into a Bug/Steel-type Wormadam, and I like giving Pokemon a chance and not release them." Aaron answered as he placed his hat back on his head. Ash struggled vigorously as he tried to pull apart Gouzatile and Scere with the help of Pikachu. Eventually, they succeeded but both Ash and Pikachu fell back onto the grass. "Well, what are you gonna do now?" Ash asked after reclaiming his equanimity.

With another heavy sigh, Aaron stood up, stuffed up his hands, and responded, "Something, that's for sure." He then walked off, slowly sauntering away from his friends.

Eventually, the orphaned strategist stopped walking after arriving at a level location beyond the hills. "Burmy, we need to talk." Aaron said as he released his infamous pokemon from its Pokeball. Burmy materialized from an azure light instead of the usual white light. The Bagworm Pokemon looked at its trainer. Unlike before, she could sense how serious Aaron was and decided to actually listen attentively.

"I've had it…" Aaron declared almost growling, "You've caused my family, Pokemon, and I enough trouble…Now you've gone and caused my friends trouble…I cannot allow myself to try and discipline and train an unruly Pokemon like yourself!"

Burmy's lower lip quivered in shame and fear as her trained barked uncharacteristically angrily at her. The pure Bug-type slithered toward her _former _trainer's leg, only for him to quickly pull himself back. "No…" Aaron rejected but in a more levelheaded manner, "You're not my Burmy anymore…You are free now. Please leave." Burmy felt downtrodden after receiving the extremely huge reality check. Now she felt full of guilt and shame, and it was too late to compensate for her past behavior. Burmy turned around and wandered off into the distance with her head hung low. Aaron let his third heavy sigh escape his lungs before turning the opposite direction and beginning the excursion back to his posse.

Burmy continued her aimless excursion to the point the plains were replaced with a chaparral, but she did not pay attention to the change of scenery. At the moment, she was too disheartened to pay attention to anything actually. Soon enough, that depression turned into fury as the last words Burmy's former trainer said to her replayed in her mind. This sent her into a hissy fit as she uncontrollably discharged String Shots in the vicinity whilst shooting out verbal curses in her language.

But to make matters worse, these wayward String Shots agitated another Pokemon. Located between two small shrubs was a slightly spherical, red-orange pokemon that resembled the fire seen on a burning candle wick. The creature had no limbs whatsoever and resembled something of fire spirit with the aforementioned design. It was resting perfectly until approximately two of the String Shots smacked in the face, snapping open its blue eyes with black sclera. Frustrated that it was interrupted of peaceful sleeping, the Pokemon burned the silk cursing its face and directed its attention to the nearby Bagworm Pokemon.

"(Hey you!)" The creature snapped causing the Bug-type to put her attention to it. "(What do you want?)" Burmy snapped back with her gold eyes glowering at the obviously fire-related entity. "(Take your PMS mode somewhere else! I'm trying to sleep here!)" The creature retorted. "(Maybe you shouldn't have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.)" Burmy responded sassily.

In the nonexistent ears of the newcomer, those were fighting words. Without warning, the Pokemon unleashes Flamethrower; spraying red-orange flames from its mouth. Alarmed, the Bagworm Pokemon rolled away to avoid the Fire-type maneuver. "(Thanks for letting me legally kick your butt out of self-defense!)" Burmy stated indignantly before charging at the unknown creature.

Instantly, the fiery opponent created astral clones of itself in order to mask the location of the real one. Flabbergasted, the Bug-type left herself wide open. "(Bye-bye, buggy!)" They cackled as they released another Flamethrower to the hapless Burmy. The latter was hit full-force with the attack and screamed an earth-shattering scream.

However, she would not surrender so easily. White energy began to form around her burning body in the form of overlapping ellipses. Then, it was released in the form of small waves (Hidden Power [Water]). The Flamethrower instantly thinned out and the clones disappeared.

After recovering, the burned Bug-type staggered up. "(Wh-Where are you..you coward…?)" Burmy interrogated. "(Right behind you!)" The aggressor screamed as it fired black blobs of darkness at the unsuspecting Bagworm Pokemon. A small, dusty explosion rocked the area as the Shadow Balls struck their target. After the dust settled, a defeated Burmy was lying helpless inside a diminutive crater. The aggressive pyromancer cackled heartlessly as flames were produced inside its grinning mouth. "(This is the end for you.)"

"Empoleon, Ice Beam!"

"(What the-)" Before the killing blow could land, the creature was hit with a freezing ray of ice and knocked into a boulder. Burmy weakly opened its eyes to see a very familiar face. "Be glad you screamed loud enough for me to hear." Aaron said with a thankful smile, "Even when you're not mine again…you still cause trouble." Burmy smiled back grateful to have been saved and that her former trainer could back to assist her. Standing back up and stopping at Empoleon's side, Aaron pulled out his grey PokeDex and said, "Now let's see what we're dealing with…"

"**Spife: The Wisp Pokemon. Spife are seemingly docile creatures and kindly light the way for lost travelers in caves. If agitated or threatened, they will melt down the vicinity."**

(A/N: "Spife" comes from the words "**spi**rit"/"**spi**te" and "**f**ir**e**" to emphasize the fact that it is a Ghost/Fire-type combination. It is also a shortening of the phase "spitfire")

"Docile, my rear…" Aaron commented as he stowed away the device. By this time, the Spife regained its composure and leered at the two intruders. "Let's finish this up...Empoleon-"

Suddenly, a majestic glowing light shined from behind Aaron and the Water/Steel-type. Immediately, they turned around to see Burmy's whole body was glowing. "What the? Is Burmy...?" Aaron whispered in astonishment. The Bug-type Pokemon's veiled body levitated and began to undergo an obvious metamorphosis. Eventually, an entirely new creature was revealed after the light faded.

"Wormadam!" The new Bug/Steel-type Pokemon chimed elatedly as its arms made of pink ribbons flowed with the small breeze. "Oh sweet! It's about time this happened!" Aaron exclaimed happily while Empoleon just smirked. Spife, on the other hand, was frowning in fear. Needless to say, it was now royally screwed.

"Take this thing out, why don't you?" Aaron ordered as his new Wormadam floated in front of him and began to charge lustrous energy in its bodily cloak. In a split-second, a Flash Cannon was discharged straight toward the intimidated Spife. A larger explosion occurred as the Ghost/Fire-type was sent away screaming shrilly.

"Aw, come here, you!" Aaron exclaimed as he suddenly hugged Wormadam. The Bagworm Pokemon affectionately nuzzled back. "I'm sorry I said that to you, Wormadam…but you should know when playtime is over and when to be serious." Aaron said as he released the Bug/Steel-type from its grasp. Wormadam nodded in acknowledgment, "(Yeah, you're right. I won't make that mistake if you give me another chance.)" Aaron smiled and took out a Pokeball, "Welcome back to the team."

**-MEANWHILE-**

"Aaron!"

"Yo, Aaron!"

"Where are you, man?"

"Say something!"

Even since Aaron went away from the group after the Burmy incident, he never came back. So naturally, his friends began a small search party that led them to a trail in a chaparral. "Did Burmy's attitude really impact him _that _much?" Misty questioned as the gang regrouped. "Aaron isn't the one to be a Drama King." Ian responded crossing his arms.

"That's because I'm not." A voice suddenly corrected. Everyone abruptly turned to see Aaron, with Wormadam hovering beside its shoulder, approaching the group from the other side of the trail. "There you are!" May exclaimed. "What were you doing?" Dawn inquired eyeing the Bug/Steel-type carefully. "Making amends with Burmy," Aaron answered, "Or should I rather say Wormadam?"

"Oh! Burmy evolved?" Ash stated as he took out his PokeDex to quickly look up the evolved Bagworm Pokemon. "That's good to know," Brock said, "You should never really give up on a Pokemon. Some require just a bit more patience, even if it gets out of hand. Hopefully that experience taught you something." The Orre Region resident simply shrugged and replied, "Even I am still learning."

With that, the group followed the trail through the chaparral in order to continue with their journey. Interestingly enough, after about 15 minutes of walking, the chaparral gained an unusually blue tint to it as the temperature gradually decreased. "Is it me or is it getting chilly?" May surveyed as she rubbed her arms with her hands. "Yeah, I noticed that too." Brock muttered as he examined the surroundings, noting the slight changes.

Then, the trail split into two ways with a frost-covered sign directing where each path led. "Oh great, a fork in the road." Max announced disdainfully. "Well, we're going to Shiro Town, so pick which path leads there." Ash stated. The sign did tell them the desired amount of information. The right road led to "Ryojima Mountain" and the left road led to "Shiro Town". In addition to that information, manually made text with the use of a black marker had encrypted the following message:

_You're waaaaay behind me, Ashy-Boy. Signed your rival, Gary_

"Gary?" Misty exclaimed in surprise. "Oh where have I seen this before…" Brock stated rhetorically. "Ashy-Boy?" Ian said with him, Dawn, and Max snickering. Ash was suddenly sent over the edge in irritation, "OH JUST WAIT TIL I FIND YOU, GARY!" He yelled as he quickly ran down the left path.

"And off he goes." May uttered with a sweat drop gracing the back of her head. "So let's catch up to him before something bad happens to him." Aaron recommended as he pursued his rambunctious friend; everyone else followed suit.

With the presence of Shiro Town approaching ever so closely, Ash and company have increased their pace in order to catch up with fellow Pallet Town resident Gary Oak- Oh wait, that is merely _Ash's _goal with everyone else trying to make sure he doesn't hurt himself.

Oh, well…


	16. A Winter Wonderland

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**A Winter Wonderland**

"OK, Marina failed to mention that the way to Shiro Town was freaking cold!" Ash yelled irritably as a sneeze accompanied him.

As of now, Ash and company had long left the chaparral and entered a domain where snow was championing the weather conditions. There was a small downpour of snowflakes, the grass and trees were blanketed in a thin layer of mush, frozen water, and the trail they currently traversed on had been shoveled clean of snow in order to provide accommodations for people.

"This is rather inconvenient…" Brock mumbled in agreement as he tried to maintain his posture and brave the icy conditions. "In my honest opinion…" Dawn stated dismally, "Shiro Town _must _have worse weather condition than Snowpoint City." Ian released a sneeze as he remarked, "This…is going to suck."

Max curiously fidgeted with his PokeNav in order to see if there were any more places other than Shiro Town ahead. "Good news, everyone, there's a small town up ahead. We could rest there." Max announced. "Great, that's excellent to know." Aaron responded out of relief and thankfulness.

After hearing that revelation, the gang decided to speed up their pace considerably with the desire of reaching the town and seeing if they could acquire more suitable clothing. Little did they know, they were also being spied on by rather familiar characters. "Looks like they are finally going to a rest stop." James said as he poked his head from behind some shrubbery. "Good because all this cold is starting to give me a headache!" Jessie groused as she brushed snow out of her long hair. "How can somethin' give ya a headache if dere's nothin' in dere." Meowth mumbled inaudibly.

Eventually, Ash and company successfully arrived at the location. It was a quaint, rustic, snow-blanketed town that very humble resident but not too many buildings (just ones of necessity like a Pokemon Center and even a Pokemon Mart). "There's a Pokemon Center here!" May exclaimed happily. "Thank the Lord, now let's check in and get out of-" Ian paused mid-sentence to sneeze, "-this cold…" The group hurriedly went inside the Pokemon Center and eagerly welcomed the warm heat insulating from the air conditioning ducts. "Ahhh, _much _better." Dawn commented contently.

Our favorite Pewter City Gym Leader then noticed something else inside the Pokemon Center, "And it's about to get even better!" He shouted in a love-struck tone. "Thank you, please come again." The pink-haired Nurse Joy softly stated as a young trainer left with his freshly healed Machop. "Oh Nurse Joy~!" An excited, enamored voice shouted as the Pokemon Nurse's right hand was lifted. "The rapid beating in my chest is caused because of your beautiful face and love for all Pokemon. You have utterly captured my attention-"

"Toxi!"

"So...has…this…Poison…Jab…!" Brock raspingly said as his body collapsed at the great amount of venom injected into his body by his own Toxicroak. He was subsequently dragged away from a confounded Nurse Joy by the ears by Misty and Max.

Ash chuckled as Pikachu positioned itself on his right shoulder. Then, wanting to check out some scenery, he silently separated himself from his groups and went outside. Oddly enough, the frigid temperatures seem more bearable but Ash merely deduced that his body adjusted it. "I bet you twenty bucks Shiro Town is worse than this though." Ash said to his Pikachu as he walked down the dirt road while looking at the little stuff the quaint town had to offer. "Pika. (Agreed.)" Pikachu replied wistfully.

"You know what," The Pride of Pallet Town suddenly declared, "I should buy some sort of jacket before going on. I wouldn't want to freeze my butt off before I get the chance to challenge the next Gym Leader." With that, he turned heel and began to walk toward the Pokemon Mart.

That is until a mechanical grappling unexpectedly snatched Pikachu off of his shoulder.

"What the-? Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he sharply turned around to face whatever, or whoever, was attempting to pilfer his Electric-type buddy. "Even when you're in a silent town like this, Team Rocket will still come to snatch this Pikachu!" Jessie said as Meowth reeled in Pikachu and placed it in a small containment chamber. "And now it is time to bid you adieu!" James said as he mockingly waved Ash goodbye. "Bye-bye, you shrew!" Meowth stated sneeringly as the balloon began to quickly drift away.

"Team Rocket, get back here!" Ash yelled as he began to pursue the balloon. This situation wasn't too dissimilar from one of the many times Team Rocket attempted this scenario, but the sad fact was that they hadn't tried it when the snowy environment was a detrimental factor. That factor soon showed its ugly face when the chase led them back to the colder parts of the chaparral that were recently travelled. "Oh man, why here?" Ash groused as started to shiver slightly. His pace started to dwindle as he gingerly traversed from the slope of jarred rocks and blockading shrubbery.

"The twerp has moxie," James commented looking at the raven-haired trainer out of the corner of his eye, "that much I'll give him." Jessie then took out a Pokeball and enlarged it, "Well, I'm going to destroy it! Yanmega, Sonicboom!" After tossing the red and white mechanism, the Ogre Darner Pokemon was released. Then, it wings alit with silver and discharged two thin rims of silver energy at Ash.

Acting quick enough, the Pallet Town resident avoided the Sonicboom. However, the sudden disturbance in peace caused all the snow accumulated atop nearby rocks to avalanche down. Before Ash could, he was trapped up to the shoulder in snow, instantly chilling his body temperatures. "There. No more twerp to worry about!" Jessie proclaimed as she recalled her Yanmega.

Ash felt his whole body became drained of all energy immediately after the snow collapse atop his cold body. He weakly looked up, with blurred vision, at the departing hot-air balloon. "Pikachu…"

"Glaceon, Ice Beam!"

Ash's eyes, as if he was suddenly revitalized, shot open at the command from the unknown female voice. The giant balloon itself was swiftly encased in ice. "Our getaway's been frozen!" Meowth shouted frantically as the balloon began descending. "Who would dare do that?" James exclaimed quizzically.

"Deli Deli!" A voice chirped happily. Team Rocket looked to see a white and red bird with a bag over its shoulder perched onto the balloon basket's edge. "What's da Team Rocket Delibird doin' here at a time like dis?" Meowth questioned blinking. "We're saved!" Jessie squealed, "Delibird must have come to give us kick-butt Pokemon to save us!"

"Delibird, Focus Punch!"

That assumption went washing away when the Delivery Pokemon used a glowing white fist to break open Pikachu's imprisonment. "Deli! (Hop on!)" Delibird commanded hurriedly. Instantly, the Electric-type jumped on the Ice/Flying-type's back, and the latter subsequently flew away from the falling Meowth Balloon. "DAT CROOK!" Meowth yelled at the top of its lungs. "A thief stealing from a thief is much worse!" James groused loudly. "Yanmega, Ancient Power!" Jessie ordered as she pointed a gloved finger at the escaping Pokemon. Immediately afterwards, the Bug/Flying-type released glowing grey-brown orbs of earth.

"Glaceon, Mirror Coat!"

Out of nowhere, the Fresh Snow Pokemon designated Glaceon jumped past Delibird and Pikachu with its coat glowing a wavy apricot color. The pure Ice-type intercepted the Ancient Power and sent it right back at the user. An explosion occurred as the deflected Rock-type maneuver hit its mark.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The ditzy trio screamed as they disappeared in the sky leaving behind a white twinkling star.

Flabbergasted, the raven-haired trainer shifted in order to free himself. "Stay still please," The same female voice softly instructed, rivaling the tone of an alluring snowy zephyr. Then, Ash felt the snow being removed from him piece-by-piece. He wanted to know how his savior looked, but all he could catch was the glimpse of white snow boots. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu squeaked happily as it jumped off Delibird and nuzzled his trainer's face affectionately. "Pikachu, I'm glad you're OK." Ash said warmly to his long-time friend.

"There. You can move now." The female informed as her Glaceon appeared beside her. Although Ash felt prickling sensations in some parts of his body from the excessive cold, he managed to stand up and gain a full view of his savior. The female seemed around sixteen years of age, just like Aaron and Ian. She had long teal hair that reached to the end of her spine and soft teal eyes that gazed at Ash accompanied with a sweet and caring smile. Her apparel consisted of a weather-appropriate long-sleeved white snow jacket that reached to her knees, a white snow cap, and a pair of white snow boots.

"Thanks, I really owe you one." Ash said appreciatively, "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." The male then extended his hand requisitioning a friendly handshake. "I'm Winter, pleasure to meet you Ash." The female, now identified as Winter, greeted as she shook Ash's hand. "But you should really thank Delibird and Glaceon, they did most of the work." Winter added as she looked at her two Ice-type Pokemon.

"Thanks, you two!" Ash said to them. "Pikachu! (You're life savers!)" The Mouse Pokemon stated. "Deli..(Oh go on..)" Delibird replied rubbing the back of its head in embarrassment. "(Whatever…)" Glaceon nonchalantly responded. "So can I assume you were dragged away from town since that group stole your Pikachu?" Winter asked curiously. "I was. I'm heading back there. You're welcome to come with!" Ash uttered hospitably. "Very well then, Ash," Winter acknowledge with another sweet smile, "I was on way there anyway, so this will prove convenient."

As the recently acquainted friends continued to traverse across the snowy chaparral back, Ash decided to ask, "So, Winter, you're from the Tenla Region right?" Winter looked at him and answered, "Yes. I'm actually from Shiro Town and I'm on my way there." Ash queried again, "So how's it like in Shiro Town? Is it colder than it is now?" Winter once again answered, "A little bit more, but the snow everything is so invigorating. It's fun to play in." She glided her hand across the smooth surface of a snow-blanketed stone, relishing the cold and mushy feeling from the snow. It was no question to Ash that Winter obviously enjoyed the frozen, wintry pleasures that was provided in this section of the Tenla Region. Why? He had no idea.

"Deli Deli? (So, Pikachu, where are you from and how long you been with Ash?)" Delibird inquired as he hovered above Glaceon and the receiver of the question. The Electric-type answered, "Pika Pikachu. (We've come from Pallet Town and I've apart of Ash's team for seven years.)" The Delivery Pokemon exclaimed, "Deli! (That's cool!)" Glaceon made an uninterested snort as she continued to trot through the snow behind her trainer. Pikachu curiously looked at the Ice-type and asked, "Pika? (What about you and Winter?)" Glaceon, without looking at the Mouse Pokemon, responded nonchalantly, "(Don't know, don't care.)" Pikachu's brown eyes widened a little, "Pika? (How can you not care?)"

Delibird descended to Pikachu's level and whispered in his ear, "Deli Deli. Deli. (Don't worry, that's her way of saying she loves Winter and they've been together for a long time. She tries to maintain a tough-girl image.)" Now it made more sense to the yellow mouse, "Pika. (Oh.)" The Ice/Flying bird began to snicker a little, "Deli. (But that doesn't stop her from fanning over her own tail.)"

The Fresh Snow Pokemon shot a venomous glare at Delibird and threatened, "(Don't make me come over there and kick your ass, Delibird!)" Delibird merely snickered and regained altitude before Glaceon could do anything else. Ash watched the small scene over his shoulder. He nudged Winter and remarked, "That's a weird Glaceon you have. It's not like May's." Winter replied, "Well, Glaceon has her quirks. I would expect her to be different from other Glaceons." Then she questioned, "But who is this May person?"

Realization surged across the Pallet Town resident, "Oh right! I never told you about my friends. May is from Petalburg City of the Hoenn Region and she's a coordinator. Max is her younger brother and he's starting out as a trainer. Misty and Brock are both Gym Leaders from Cerulean and Pewter City and they've been with me since forever! Dawn is from Twinleaf Town of the Sinnoh Region and she's also coordinator. Ian is from Lavender Town in Kanto, where I'm from, and he trains Ghost-types. Lastly, there's Aaron, a Steel-type coordinator."

"Interesting group." Winter commented as she slid down a slope of snow with Ash, "I don't have that many friends. It must be heartwarming to have such a vast group of people who you can trust." Ash replied, "Yeah. I wouldn't give them up for the world. Same with my Pokemon."

"(Can we please hurry and get to town before this talk gets even mushier?)" Glaceon hollered from behind in an irritated fashion. "Oh, Glaceon." Winter giggled. "Did you understand her?" Ash asked. "Well, for some reason, I can actually understand Pokemon Language of any kind." Winter announced as they stepped onto the trail that would lead them back to town. "Whoa, _any _kind?" Ash responded in amazement, "That's cool!"

"Thanks. I really wonder how I acquired this talent, but I guess I'll enjoy the luxury of having it." Winter said. Eventually and finally, the group made it back to town. "Finally, we're here!" Ash exclaimed as he began running to the last place his friends were, the Pokemon Center, "Come on, I'll show you the group!" Winter followed behind, "Hold on, Ash!" Delibird and Pikachu chuckled as they followed after the two humans; Glaceon scoffed and rolled her eyes before following as well.

Eventually, Winter and Ash re-entered the Pokemon Center passing through the automatic bidirectional slide doors, "Guys! You here?" Ash shouted questioningly into the lobby. "Oh, Ash! There you are!" May exclaimed as she ran over accompanied by her brother, Aaron, and Dawn. "Slipped away from us, didn't ya?" Aaron asked teasingly with a grin. "I guess so, but it was for a good cause." Ash replied. Dawn curiously looked at the strange snow attire-clad female behind Ash, but in order to herself more presentable she introduced, "Hello there! I'm Dawn from Twinleaf Town!"

It was until that point that Max, May, and Aaron also noticed the person behind Ash. "Oh yeah!" Ash exclaimed in exclamation in realization as he stepped to the side for his friends to check out a timid-looking Winter. "Guys, meet Winter. Team Rocket tried to steal Pikachu when I walked out and she helped me out immensely." The teal-haired girl waved sweetly at the group in front of her.

"Heh, saved Pikachu, eh?" Aaron responded as he began his introduction, "Well, anyone that helps out a friend is definitely cool in my book. I'm Aaron Shadow of Metropolis Town of the Orre Region, Winter." May extended her hand politely as she introduced herself, "Hi, my name is May Maple and this is my little brother Max." Max regulated his glasses before greeting himself. Winter smiled and shook May's hand. "And I'm Dawn from Twinleaf Town!" The blue-haired coordinator spoke up and then complimented, "Ooo, I love how your hair looks!" Winter subconsciously ran a hand through her spine-length teal hair and replied, "Why thank you, I think my adjustment to cold weather helps in maintaining how it looks."

"Just to let you know, Ash," Max spoke to the Pallet Town resident, "Misty, Brock, and Ian went to the Pokemon Mart for some supplies." Ash looked at the younger Maple child and responded. "Oh, that explains they're not here."

As if on cue, the aforementioned trio entered the Pokemon Center with supply bags in tow. "We're back." Brock announced. "Welcome back." Aaron stated, "We literally got two things for you guys to see." Ian's grey eyes looked up and scanned Ash momentarily before shifting his glance apathetically to the white-clothed stranger, "Oh, someone who likes to run off without telling anyone and someone we haven't even met."

Instantly at the sight of an attractive female, Brock let his supply bags hit the floor in order to take Winter's left hand in his regular style. "To bask in the presence of an unknown yet elegant and beautiful snow angel is enough identification for me and my increasing body temperature. My name is Brock! Please tell me, fair maiden, what is thy name?" The dark-skinned Pokemon Breeder/Gym Leader stated affectionately. Blinking in bewilderment, Winter replied, "I'm Winter, Brock, from Shiro Town." Brock continued his little display, "Ahh, Winter; the name of the same chilly, snowy season that everyone adores so much. It's no wonder how much you've captured my-"

"Cor!"

A lethal Poison Jab was stabbed into the left side of Brock's hip but not from the usual deliverer. Toxicroak's stood perplexed, with a readied Poison Jab, as a different creature retracted its Poison Jab. "So. Has. This. Thing." Brock groaned before collapsing onto the floor. At the side of Brock was a small-sized scorpion-like white pokemon. It has the general appearance of a scorpion (jointed six legs, pincers, and barbed tail) and its tail possesses a visible meter of purple poison. Toxicroark simply shrugged off the endeavor and dragged its trainer away.

"…Wow that thing looks pissed." Ian commented on the rather irritated disposition of the minute Tenla-native Pokemon. The creature hissed defensively, only to be picked up by its calm trainer. "Corsenic is very protective of me is all." Winter said as Delibird and Glaceon snickered in the background. "Corsenic, eh?" Ash said as he took out his PokeDex.

"**Corsenic: The** **Monoxide Pokemon. Corensic capture their prey by infecting blizzards with carbon monoxide. To prevent prey immune to the carbon monoxide from escaping, they stab them and inject near-lethal poison into them."**

(A/N: "Corsenic" is derived from the words "**co**ld", symbolizing its Ice-type nature, and "a**rsenic**", a poisonous element that symbolizes its Poison-type nature and the creature it is based off on, a venomous scorpion.)

"Yikes. What a killer." Max said in a hushed tone as he meditated on the description the Pokemon Encyclopedia provided. "Well, anyway!" Misty exclaimed, changing the subject, and approached Winter, ignoring the warning hisses from Corsenic, "You've met Brock. My name is Misty, nice to meet you, Winter!" She said as she shook Winter's hand. "Likewise, Misty."

"And to finish all this off," Ian spoke up looking at the teal-haired woman, "Name's Ian Darusu." Winter looked back and smiled sweetly at him, "Nice to meet you as well."

"Well, now that we have acquainted each other, let's get down to business." Aaron announced and then looked at Ian, Misty, Brock, "So since you have all the supplies, are we ready to go?" Ian and Misty nodded and collectively responded, "That's right." Brock, on the other hand, was trying to get over his state of paralysis. Apparently, Corsenic's poison was more effective than Toxicroak's. "Um, you're heading to Shiro Town, correct?" Winter questioned softly. "That's right." May answered. "Well, I hope you don't mind if I be your tour guide there. I'm sure you'll need someone familiar with the terrain." Winter said.

"Fair enough." Aaron, Max, and Ian concurred at the same time. "We'd be honored to have you travel with us!" Dawn exclaimed happily. "Even if it is just for a short time." May added in. "I'm just glad I get to hang out that wonderful piece of masterpiece longer." Brock commented in a love-struck tone but was quickly snapped out of his stupor when Misty aggressively pulled his ear. "Too bad that masterpiece isn't for sale." The Cerulean City Water-type specialist reprimanded.

"But first, Winter," Ash suddenly spoke, prompting all eyes, especially the teal-haired girl's, to look at him. "I'm kinda curious...with how your Delibird, Glaceon, and your Corsenic performed, I wanna see how good you are at battling. I challenge you!"

"Must it be _now_, Ketchum?" Ian asked condescendingly. Aaron slapped his hand onto Ian's mouth to prevent further words to be spoken from him. Winter blinked before softly answering, "Um...sure. Why not?" Glaceon grinned excitedly, "(Finally. I can see how good you really are, shorty.)" Pikachu narrowed his eyes at the Fresh Snow Pokemon, "Pika pi pika. (Let's see if your bite is worse than your bark.)"

**-Outside-**

Ash and Winter stood apart from each other to recreate the length of an actual battlefield. Misty, May, Max, Dawn, Ian, and Aaron stood aside as spectators to the battle while Brock assumed the position of an official referee. "I'd say this will be pretty interesting." Misty remarked. "Plus, it gives us a chance to see where Winter's at." May added.

"This battle between Winter and Ash will a standard trainer battle; only three Pokemon will be used by each trainer, and the battle will end when either trainer's pokemon are unable to battle anymore." Brock stated the regulations. Ash grinned while nodding, "Got'cha!" Winter's hands were behind her back as she too nodded, "Understood."

"Now, please, send out your first pokemon."

"Scere, I choose you!" Ash took out his Pokeball and threw it out, releasing the Rambunctious Pokemon onto the battlegrounds. Winter took a Pokeball of her own and lithely tossed it out, "Please, Delibird, battle for me." The Delivery Pokemon was released into battle. "Scere and Delibird, huh?" Aaron said while adjusting his hat. "Interesting choices." Dawn commented.

"Begin."

"I'll let you go first, Ash." Winter informed, smiling sheepishly. Ash nodded and then commanded his Pokemon, "Scere, use Drain Punch!" Scere rushed toward the Ice/Flying-type as its right first was surrounded by a green, missile-shaped aura. "Delibird, use Focus Punch!" Winter commanded. "Deli!" Delibird chirped as it flew at the charging Scere, its right wing caked with glowing white. Both Pokemon clashed their punching moves momentarily before separating.

"Now, follow up with Present." Winter commanded. Delibird quickly reached inside its bad and pulled out a box with red gift wrap. It subsequently hurled the item to Scere. "Dodge and use Dark Pulse!" Ash ordered. The Dark-type rolled out of the way and unleashed of ray of dark rings with purple outlines for Delibird. The Delivery Pokemon was hit by Dark Pulse and shot out of the sky. "Deli!" It chirped in pain as it landed on the ground.

"Nice shot." Ian remarked.

"Delibird, get up and use Water Pulse." Winter commanded softly. Getting up, Delibird summoned a blue sphere in and threw it at Scere, a large blue wave forming around it. "Scere, Mimic!" Ash enjoined in retaliation. The Rambunctious Pokemon imitated Delibird's actions and conjured up a Water Pulse of its own. Both Water-type attacks connected and elicited a small watery burst.

Winter smiled, "Focus Punch." Suddenly, from within the gushes of water, the Ice/Flying-type shot through and nailed a Focus Punch square across Scere's face. Brock resisted the urge to grimace upon impact. "Scere's gonna be feeling that one in the morning." Max commented timidly.

Scere skidded across the snowy ground, coming to complete stop eventually. Its red eyes gazed at Delibird who was floating readily in the air. "Alright, Scere," Ash said, "Head for Delibird!" Scere kicked off its feet and sprinted for the airborne Ice/Flying-type. "Spot it in its tracks, Delibird," Winter countered, "Ice Shard." The Delivery Pokemon's eyes gained an ice blue hue as diamond-shaped shards of ice spontaneously formed in the air around it. Then, they were launched for the running Dark-type.

"Use those Ice Shards to reach Delibird!" Ash commanded. Using its skillful dexterity was a natural-born thief, Scere jumped up and bounced off the first Ice Shard that threatened connection. Then, it repeatedly jumped from Ice Shard to Ice Shard until it was within perfect range from Delibird. "Now Dark Pulse!" Scere then unleashed a second Dark Pulse that immediately hit Delibird and propelled it straight to the ground.

"Nice use of Scere's maneuverability." May commented. "Well, the little rascal _is _a thief." Dawn added humorously.

"Delibird, can you get up?" Winter asked concernedly. Delibird nodded before jumping back to his feet. Winter smiled with relief, "Great…Now try Ice Shard again!" Delibird summoned another Ice Shard and threw them at Scere. "Jump off the Ice Shard again!" Ash commanded. Like last time, Scere dodged an Ice Shard so that it would stick into the ground then bounced off it. The Dark-type pokemon bounced off another shard so that it was jettisoned toward Delibird again.

"Water Pulse. Block its way." Winter commanded. Immediately, Delibird unleashed a Water Pulse in front of it. Nothing but surging waves was in Scere's sight, and it was subsequently immersed in the Water Pulse. "Scere! Oh man! Ash exclaimed. "I had a feeling you would have gotten your Scere to do that again," Winter spoke, her voice still pleasant and soft, "So I'm afraid I had to devise a trap to catch you off guard."

When the Water Pulse ended, Scere was lying on its side, comically banging its head against the ground. "What the-Scere, what are you doing?" Ash questioned in stress. "Water Pulse has a chance to confuse its target," Max explained, "Just like that, everything is under Winter's control."

"Delibird, initiate a final Focus Punch." Winter commanded as she pointed at the confused Scere with a slim index finger. And Delibird did just that; while Scere was busy slamming its head onto the ground, the Delivery Pokemon delivered a thunderous Focus Punch to its right cheek. The Rambunctious Pokemon rolled uncontrollably after impact and stopped right in front of its trainer, eyes replaced with swirls of exhaustion.

"Scere is unable to battle! Delibird is the winner!" Brock announced. "I'm going to give Ash some benefit of the doubt," Aaron stated, "After all, that _was _Scere's first battle under his care." Misty replied, "Even so, you gotta admit, Winter's pretty good."

"Return, Scere." Ash said as he recalled the fallen Dark-type back into its Pokeball. "Good job, Scere. Take a break." Ash said softly in acknowledgement and took out another Pokeball. "Alright, Gouzatile," Ash yelled as he threw out it out, "I choose you!" The red and white sphere released Ash's Tenla starter, Gouzatile, but to much of his friends' surprise.

"W-Wait, he's choosing _now _for Gouzatile's first battle?" May said with slight disbelief. "I know Fire-types have an advantage over Ice-types," Dawn articulated, "but isn't it kinda much to use a Pokemon that hasn't battled before?"

Hearing the doubtful words from Ash's companions, Gouzatile hissed as orange wisps of flames was steadily released from its mouth. The Lizard Pokemon was definitely ready to prove them wrong.

"Begin!"

"Delibird, Present!" Winter commanded. Delibird reached into its bag and hurled another box with red gift-wrap toward Gouzatile. "Ember!" Ash countered. Gouzatile instantly opened its mouth and released a barrage of small orange spheres at the Present. The hot content of the Ember contacted the Present, causing the latter to detonate instantly.

"Focus Punch!" Delibird suddenly shot through the black smoke that resulted from the explosion with its right hand covered with whiteness. "Leer!" Ash enjoined, and the Lizard Pokemon instantly shot the charging Ice/Flying-type a cold glare. Out of fear and apprehension, Delibird stopped itself in its tracks and left itself wide open for an attack."Now! Use Slash, Gouzatile!" Ash ordered. Gouzatile's white claws glowed white as he jumped toward the flabbergasted Delibird and brutally scratched it.

When Gouzatile landed on its four feet, so did Delibird; albeit more harshly and on its back. The Delivery Pokemon had swirls of exhaustion in its eyes. "Delibird is unable to battle! Gouzatile is the winner!" Brock declared.

Winter's Glaceon rolled her eyes, "(Way to go, Kris Kringle. You lost to a small reptile.)" As the Shiro Town resident recalled Delibird, Gouzatile shot the Fresh Snow Pokemon a fiery glare, "(You shouldn't be talking, puppy.)" Glaceon felt a vein pop in her forehead, "(I beg your pardon?)"

"Now, now, Glaceon, it's not your turn yet…" Winter rationalized tenderly, and Glaceon huffed before saying no more. "Cloyster, your turn." Winter tossed out her next pokeball and released the Bivalve Pokemon. "A Cloyster?" Dawn said inquiringly and took out her Pokedex.

"**Cloyster: The Bivalve Pokemon, and the evolved form of Shellder. Cloyster that live in seas with harsh tidal currents grow large, sharp spikes on their shells."**

"Should be interesting to see how Gouzatile will deal with a defensive Pokemon." Aaron observed as Brock announced the beginning of the next round.

"Gouzatile, Ember!" Ash commanded, and the Fire-type discharged more Ember towards its new opponent. "Ice Shard." Winter countered. "Cloyster…!" The Water/Ice-type's horn illuminated a beautiful ice blue and subsequently discharged multiple ice blue shards of ice at the Ember. "Wait, she deliberately commanded an Ice-type move against a Fire-type move?" May exclaimed. "That implicates something…" Ian said forebodingly.

When the Ember and the Ice Shard crossed paths, bits of steam hissed from the contact between two opposite elements. Astounding enough, the Ice Shard was frigid enough to thin out Gouzatile's Ember whilst surviving the altercation. In addition, Cloyster's Ice Shard was now thinner from evaporation to the point they resembled needles or small lances.

"Oh man! She planned that!" Ash said as his eyes widened, trying to think of a way to save his Gouzatile. "So that's why!" Dawn exclaimed with slight awe. Glaceon smirked, "(I would love to see you dodge that, salamander?)" Gouzatile sneered as orange fire convened in its mouth, "(I don't have to!)" Fate was an interesting thing, and it manifested itself in the form of Gouzatile released a glorious burst of red-orange flames from its mouth. The intense Fire-type attack melted the ice needles away and saved itself from certain doom.

"…I did not expect that./(I didn't see that coming.)" Winter and her Glaceon announced simultaneously; Cloyster frowned in disappointment. "I don't think anyone expected that!" Misty stated. "Gouzatile learned Flamethrower in the nick of time." Aaron said.

"Great job, Gouzatile! That's the way to do it!" Ash cheered with his smile agog, "Now let's try again! Use Flamethrower on Cloyster!" Complying, the Lizard Pokemon once again released a powerful Flamethrower, this time for the Bivalve Pokemon.

"Defend yourself with Barrier, Cloyster." Winter countered. Cloyster's smirk returned once again as its eyes glowed purple, summoning a purple glass forcefield to block the Flamethrower. "Now Slash!" The Lizard Pokemon jumped through the flames and attempted to strike Cloyster while it was busy.

Winter waited patiently and in quietude for the moment before commanding, "…Clamp." When Gouzatile proceeded to try and slash at Cloyster's face, the Water/Ice-type suddenly closed its shell and captured Gouzatile's arm in a crushing vice. "Oh man! Gouzatile's caught!" Dawn exclaimed. "Oh, Winter's got him now." Max proclaimed while adjusting his glasses.

"Hydro Pump." Winter commanded with a smile. Through the small gap in Cloyster's vertical shell, glowing blue lights illuminated before unleashing a spiraling torrent of water. Because Clamp trapped Gouzatile, it wasn't unable to dodge the powerful Hydro Pump. The Fire-type hit the ground, soaking wet and unable to battle.

"Gouzatile is unable to battle. Cloyster is the winner!"

"Ouch. Point-blank hit." Ian remarked, "Gouzatile's gonna be feeling that one in the morning." Dawn agreed in a hushed voice, "Yeah…" Aaron gazed at Cloyster with analyzing brown eyes and stated, "A Cloyster mainly revolving around defense and retaliation…Not bad at all."

"Return, Gouzatile." Ash extended out Gouzatile's Pokeball and recalled the Lizard Pokemon into it. "That was more than great, Gouzatile. Take a break." He said, putting away the device and looking down to Pikachu. "Alright, Pikachu, it's your turn!" The Electric-type smirked readily, "Pika! (Alright!)" He rushes out onto the battlefield instantly. "(Hey, small fry's finally battling.)" Glaceon commented with tiny hints of interest. "Cloyster. (Come and get me, little one.)" Cloyster challenged with its ever-present grin on its dark face. "Pika pi! (Just remember, you asked for it!" Pikacuh replied, sparks in its cheeks.

"Begin!"

"Here we go, Cloyster! Ice Shard!" Winter commanded. The Bivalve Pokemon instantly shot out multiple shards of ice from its horn toward Pikachu. "Use Quick Attack to dodge and head toward Cloyster!" The yellow mouse sprinted for the Water/Ice-type while leaving behind a trail of white and dodging Ice Shards that came its way. Eventually, Pikachu found itself within range of Winter's Cloyster.

"OK! Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. Pikachu jumped up its tail glowing white and swung it, aiming toward Cloyster's face. Like last time, Winter simply waited for the right moment before speaking again. She then commanded, "Clamp!" Cloyster grinned mockingly, "Cloyster! (Nice try!)" Right as Pikachu's tail was going to hit, the Bivalve Pokemon closed its shell and trapped the Iron Tail in a tight clutch.

"She did it again!" May exclaimed in shock. "Watch out, Pikachu!" Max alarmed, covering his eyes with dread. "Watch out for that? It can't dodge!" Misty said in distress.

"Hydro Pump." Winter commanded, smiling daintily. Blue aurora-like light seeped out of the crack that divided the halves of Cloyster's purple shell. It was beginning its unleash its assault. "Got'cha!" Ash yelled, smirking, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt 'im!"

Upon command, Pikachu let loose approximately 10,000 volts of electricity from its tail. The electrical energy invaded the inner sanctum that was Cloyster's shell. To make the situation worse, the water from the Hydro Pump that was going to be discharged conducted the Thunderbolt and spread shocking pain throughout its whole body.

Cloyster released Pikachu as it fell to one side, shell opening up to reveal swirls in its eyes. Winter gasped, "Cloyster!" Glaceon frowned in disappointment, "(Well damn…)" Brock raised up his left arm to signify Ash's side as he declared, "Cloyster is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!"

"So Ash had that planned." Aaron observed. "Planned? That's rather un-Ash-like." Misty said, elicting snickers from May, Dawn, and Ian. Ash heard that and glared at the orange-haired Cerulean City Gym Leader, "What's THAT supposed to mean, Misty?" Aaron and Max only sighed.

Winter recalled her Cloyster, "A strong opponent…" She looked down to her icy signature partner with pleading teal eyes, "You think you handle it?" Glaceon scoffed and then smirked, "(Watch me.)" The Ice-type then ran off to the battlefield as Winter announced, "Glaceon will be my last choice."

"Pika…(Wonderful…)" Pikachu said with gloom. Glaceon merely shrugged it off.

"Begin!"

"Glaceon, Ice Beam!" Winter commanded. A sky blue ball appeared in front of Glaceon's mouth and it released a beam of frozen energy for Pikachu. "Pikachu, dodge and use Thunderbolt!" Ash enjoined. Pikachu jumped to the side to avoid the Ice Beam and unleashed another Thunderbolt. "Glaceon, Mirror Coat." Winter ordered in retaliation. The Fresh Snow Pokemon's ice blue fur shined with pinkish, mystical light. It took the Thunderbolt only to send to back to the Mouse Pokemon double the power.

Pikachu groaned in pain as it felt the pain of its own medicine course through its mall yellow body. "Now Iron Tail, Glaceon." While Pikachu was still trying to shake off the Mirror Coat, Glaceon rushed for it as her tail glowed white. "Pikachu, head's up! Quick Attack to dodge!" Ash alerted.

Pikachu dashed away instantly to evade Glaceon's Iron Tail. "Now use Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. Pivoting around in the midst of its Quick Attack, Pikachu then rushed for the Fresh Snow Pokemon with its own tail glowing white. "Barrier." Winter said in retaliation. Glaceon's eyes flashed purple before summoning a purple forecefield that instantly blocked Pikachu's Iron Tail.

"Dang it!" Ash exclaimed as Pikachu skidded back. "Her Glaceon is rather balanced in its movepool," Aaron commented, "She has Barrier and Mirror Coat to defend herself against both Special and Physical attacks. At the same time, her two attacking moves are Special and Physical attacks." Misty nodded in agreement, "She'll certainly make Ash work if he wants to win this battle."

"I'll say this too; Winter's Glaceon is better than May's Glaceon." Max remartked, smirking at his older sister. May glared at the navy blue-haired trainer with heated brown eyes, "Shut it, brat."

"Ice Beam, Glaceon." Winter commanded. Glaceon summoed another azure sphee in front of her mouth and unleashed an Ice Beam. Instead of aiming it for Pikachu, she aimed for the ground to create ice stalagmites. As the Ice Beam moved toward Pikachu so did the stalagmites.

"Pikachu, destroy those pillars with Volt Tackle!" Ash commanded. The Electric-type charged straight for the ice pillars as a glorious burst of yellow electricity surrounded its body. The Volt Tackle instantly through the ice stalagmites and the Ice Beam fired to create them. "Glaceon, it's coming!" Winter alerted.

Too late. The Volt Tackle-induced Pikachu rammed straight into the Ice-type's body. Glaceon yelped painfully as she slid across the battlefield from the impact. She growled as she forced herself onto her feet, "(Lucky shot…)" Pikachu grinned, "Pikachu. (Don't hate.)"

"Iron Tail!" Winter and Ash commanded simultaneously. Both pokemon allowed metallic energy to coat their tails as they charged at one another. Iron Tail clashed with Iron Tail as an intense power spike lingered in the air. This powerful stalemate was maintained for exactly twenty seconds until an explosion occurred. Winter and Ash shielded their eyes while Brock peered into the small amount of dust to check on the condition of the two battlers.

Eventually, the smoke subsided to reveal both Glaceon and Pikachu standing up, staring each other down. Everyone was quiet, quiet enough so that the chillibg breeze could howl tranquilly.

"(You're tougher than I thought, small fry.)" Glaceon spoke, breaking the suspenseful laconism. "Pika. (I expected nothing less from you.)" Pikachu admitted. Glaceon smiled thankfully before collapsing onto the ground, swirls replacing her eyes.

"Glaceon is unable to battle. Pikachu is the winner and the victory goes to Ash." Brock officiated. "Well wasn't that quick work." Ian said, almost disappointed. "Now, now, Winter had her strong points too." May said.

"Great job, Pikachu!" Ash praised as he welcomed the yellow mouse into his arms. Winter walked over to her fallen Ice-type, kneeled down, and picked her up in her arms. "It's all right, Glaceon. We all have to stomach a loss every now and then." She cajoled, her voice inviting and soft. "(Yeah, yeah…)" Glaceon replied indignantly; but she knew her trainer was absolutely right. Winter giggled lightly before taking out a Pokeball to recall the Fresh Snow Pokemon back into it.

"Well, now that that's over." Brock said as he, and everyone else, walked over to the victorious raven-haired trainer, "We can head to Shiro Town."

"But if you're going to Shiro Town," Winter suddenly articulated to everyone, "You'll need proper attire. I think you can imagine why already." Everyone presented grunted or mumbled different types of approval/concurrence, obviously dreading the practically arctic conditions that await them in Shiro Town. "Then let's go to the Pokemon Mart, they _might _have something."

Ian audibly groaned, "I have to go _back_?" He was then swiftly elbowed in the ribs by May, "Don't mind him! Let's go!" The Ghost-type trainer mumbled something inaudibly while rubbing his ribs.

**-Pokemon Mart-**

May examined all the racks available in the Pokemon Mart, looking around for a suitable winter jacket like the shopaholic she is deep down inside. Pikachu was nonchalantly on her shoulder while his trainer was busy circumnavigating the store himself. Then something caught May's eyes; elatedly, she picked out the outfit from the rack. "Oh, Pikachu! Wouldn't this look so cute on you?" May squealed as she presented a jacket perfect for Pikachu's size. Sad thing was the outfit was femininely pink. "….Pikachu. (I wouldn't look much of myself if I wore it.)" Pikachu muttered disapprovingly.

Interestingly enough, Winter was virtually May's identical twin when it came to shopping. Only difference was Max was the poor victim rather an Electric-type pokemon. "Oh, Max, what do you think of this?" Winter presented to the younger Maple sibling a winter jacket that mostly had a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas theme to it. "…Sorry, I don't like Rudolph all that much." Max responded dispassionately. Immediately afterwards, the Shiro Town resident presented one with a Frosty the Snowman theme. Max had a sweat drop grace the back of his head, "Not the snowman either." The third and final jacket presented was a Nightmare Before Christmas style jacket. Max pondered about that certain for a couple of seconds before announcing, "Meh, that'll do."

Ash examined a jacket with a Charizard pattern on it and removed it from the rack. "Heh, nice." He complimented. Brock removed a black jacket with silver Playboy Bunny patterns on it, "For some reason…I like this one." He said. "Gee, I wonder why." Misty rolled hers eyes as she scanned through a separate rack. Meanwhile, May continued to harass/convince Pikachu into putting on the pink jacket, "Come on, Pikachu! Try it on!" "Pika pi! (I will not represent Pokemon homosexuality!)"

Aaron, Ian, and Dawn, however, we're having a rather difficult time finding a jacket attributed to each other. Seeing this little "dilemma", Winter fluttered over and surveyed, "Anything you three need help with?" The trio responded simultaneously, "Would be appreciated."

Winter inspect adjacent racks quickly and pulled something out. "Try this, Aaron." She instructed. The jacket was black with silver Pokeball symbols decorating the outside and inside was silver. Doing as he was told, the orphan took the article of clothing and put it on. "Wow, it's just my size." Aaron remarked astounded. "Hey, mind helping me and Dawn out, Winter?" Ian exclaimed not wanting Aaron to hog all the "glory". "Yeah!" Dawn agreed. "OK! OK! I'll help you both!" Winter announced.

May was too occupied trying to force on the outfit she picked out for Pikachu. The latter desperately tried to make sure the jacket would not be placed upon it; he even had thoughts of shocking May but he was too kind-hearted to do so. "Aha! Got you!" May pronounced apparently successfully accomplishing her objective. She held up Pikachu, garbed with the pink jacket and a frilly net of transparent fabric that resembled a tutu. Instantly when Ian and Brock laid eyes on Pikachu, they exploded into fits of laughter that caused other customers to look at them as if they were crazy.

Misty chuckled nervously and commented, "The pink does compliment him a little." Dawn and Winter put into "ahs" at the sight of the "cute" creature in May's hands. Max gawked at the Electric-type sympathetically, "…..Poor guy." "Huh? What's so funny-" Ash said but caught sight of his degraded best buddy wearing a rose-colored monstrosity, "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" He yelled in agitation. "What? Like Misty said! Pikachu's cute and adorable now!" May definitely responded as Pikachu whined in embarrassment. Not wanting to deal with this, Ash simply selected his Charizard jacket and went about with his business.

"Uh, OK, does everyone have their jacket?" Dawn questioned wearing a Piplup/Prinplup/Empoleon jacket. "I think Ian and Mist-Ooooh!" May squealed once more as she spotted a khaki jacket with red collaring. She tried it on and it fitted her figure nicely, "Soooo warm~" She blithely stated. Misty settled with a selection of a dark burgundy jacket with navy stripes.

Ian picked out a rather plain black jacket, "Found mine." May commented negatively, "How boring." Ian shot a small glare at the shopaholic before slipping on his jacket. "You should've got something like mine, Ian!" Brock recommended boastfully as he showed off his Playboy jacket. "Yeah, no thanks." Ian said sardonically and sarcastically. "So with Misty and Ian's outfits, we are set to go!" Ash announced. "With the exception of Ian and his plain jacket." Max snickered. "Screw. You." Ian gritted his teeth in irritation.

"Come on, Glaceon." Winter said to her Ice-type partner. Glaceon, who was waiting somewhat patiently underneath a clothes rack, emerged from underneath it and started to walk in conjunction with her trainer.

Now, everyone was officially ready to take out on Shiro Town and whatever lays in wait for them. With the assistance of new friend, Winter of the Tenla Region, the group gets ready to venture into the frosty road onto Ash and company's second Gym Battle.


	17. Heather's Chilly Weather

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Beginning Author Notes**

Well, this starts off the first of four battles against Tenla's Shiro Town Gym Leader. Why are there _four _battles as opposed to _two_? Read on then. As you can guess from the title of the chapter, the Gym Leader's name is Heather, and her title is "The Permafrost Princess".

**Heather's Chilly Weather **

On the road to Shiro Town, after bidding farewell to the quite rustic town in which Ash and company met Winter, the reason for the accumulation of whiteness and cold for the past miles began to show: snow. The soft, puffy clouds in the air gently let loose the solidified water crystal so that they could graciously supplement the majesty seen for yards. Winter was walking ahead, enjoying the scene and twirling affectionately in the snow and giggling. "Wow, she sure loves everything snow and ice…" Ian commented. "You have to admit," Dawn said as she looked at the surrounding environment, "It is actually beautiful."

"And cold," Max said shivering slightly, "Thank the heavens we were able to purchase winter jackets." Ash, with Pikachu still on his head and unfortunately still wearing its fruity attire, concurred, "Uh-huh. This is worse than Snowpoint City…"

Then, a loud squeal caught everyone's attention. They looked forward to see Winter looking outward obviously elated and admiring whatever she found. "And judging by her actions…" Aaron spoke. "We're here." Misty uttered. The group caught up to the teal-haired female and found themselves at the summit of large and long steps with street poles located at set intervals along the railing. Downward was a fairly medium-sized snow-covered and icy town. The town did not possess any tall buildings or anything special (aside from a large ice-rock cave just at the southeast tip of the town), it was just like a regular old snow-soaked town. "This is Shiro Town, eh?" Brock stated as he scrutinized the location.

"This is a lot of white and blue." Aaron remarked as he and the rest started walking down the steps. "No kidding." Max stated, "There is _nothing _like this in Hoenn." Aaron said again, "There's nothing like this in Orre! All it is desert, chaparral, oasis, mountain, forest, and port! That's it!" Ian chuckled, "Good thing we love to travel, eh?"

"Ohhh…" Winter worriedly whimpered as she finished the flight of stairs and fully entering Shiro Town, "I wonder where Heather is."

Ash blinked not completely hearing Winter, "Did you just say 'feather'?"

Ian retorted , rolling his eyes, "She said 'Heather', retard."

"Oh that's right," Winter realized and then articulated, "Heather is my childhood friend and has been ever since I was 2 years of age. She's also the Gym Leader here."

"Interesting, Winter," Aaron asserted and then inquired, "but would you hold it against us if we got settled in the Pokemon Center first?" Winter shook her head, "No, I don't see why I shouldn't mind." Brock exhaled with his breath white from the frigid temperatures, "Oh good."

"Let's head to the Pokemon Center then." Ash said as he proceeded to walk…

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ashy-boy."

…Only to freeze in place after hearing that wretched voice from his most infamous rival. "Hello, Gary." Ash greeted as he sharply turned to look at the smirking brown-haired trainer leaning against a street pole. Gary is wearing a beige jacket with yellow sleeves and cuffed denim jeans. The jacket was unzipped revealing a white short sleeved shirt with buttons. The shirt is buttoned up except for the first three; revealing what appears to be a grey muscle shirt underneath it.

"Gary!" Brock and Misty exclaimed. "Well, hell, we actually caught up to him." Ian remarked as he crossed his arms underneath his jacket /cloak. "It's the grandson of Professor Oak!" Dawn squealed fan-girlishly. "Long time no see, Gary!" Aaron and May verbalized at the same time. Winter blinked owlishly as she cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Sup, everyone!" Gary greeted as peeled himself off the street-pole and walked toward them. "…Thanks for leaving that message for him on that sign, Gary." Ash said pantomiming agitation but was actually content that his greatest rival was still being his greatest rival. "Well, hey, I did that when we started out back in the Kanto Region. And since I'm coming out of being Pokemon Researcher to battle again in a new region, I'd figured I should do a repeat. We're practically starting out again." Gary asseverated with his grin converting into a smile; Ash smiled back.

Gary then diverted his attention to the rest of the group. "Don't think I forgot about some of you guys either." He said. "Not for a second, Gary." Brock replied as Misy smiled warmly. "Been too long, eh, Gary?" Ian uttered. "It has, with you and Aaron both." Gary said. Suddenly, Dawn approached Gary and started bombarding him with praise, "It's really you again, Gary! I don't believe how long it's been since I've heard a riddle from you! Say one, please!" The blue-haired coordinator was subsequently pulled back by a sheepish May, "Sorry about her, Gary. You know how she admires everything related to Professor Oak." Gary, sheepishly, raised his hand and shook them slightly as he responded, "No, no. It's quite alright."

"Well, I seem to be the only person you haven't acquainted yet," Winter spoke up as she approached Gary and extended her hand out, "Greetings, Gary, I'm-"

"Winter. Heather told me about you." Gary interposed whilst shaking Winter's hand. "Oh? You met Heather?" The Shiro Town resident asked. "She _is _Gym Leader here." The former researcher rejoined as he retracted his hand. "So how did you do?" Ash asked, "Better yet how many Gym Badges do you have?" Gary inaudibly swallowed some of his pride along with the lump in his throat as he answered whilst avoiding eye contact with Ash, "I lost to Heather and I only have one badge…"

Ash burst out laughing causing his friends to back up uneasily. "You _lost_? And you only have _one_? Jeez, Gary, you're slipping!" Ash continued his cachinnation until Gary shot him down, "Is that the same reason why Pikachu is wearing that jacket?" The Pride of Pallet Town abruptly stopped laughing as Pikachu retorted sadly, "Piiiika Piii! (It's not my faaault!)" May suddenly asserted, "But Pikachu looks cute in that jacket!" Her words were supplemented by Dawn and Winter's following comments.

"ANYWAY!" Misty suddenly verbalizing desperate for a subject change, "So, Gary, how tough was she?" Gary elucidated, "Well, here's how everything started."

"_The battle between Shiro Tow Gym Leader, Heather, and the challenger, Gary Oak, will now begin! This a three-on-three standard trainer in which the challenger is the only one able to substitute. A winner will be declared only when all three Pokemon are rendered unable to battle!"_

_Gary stood on his platform confidently he eyed his opponent and surroundings intently. Across from him was an eighteen-year-old female, resembling Winter somewhat. Her violet hair reached to the middle of her spine. She was wearing a snow-white tube top in which the upper hem of the "tube" has a white fluff decoration. This was covered by a snow-white mantle that was buttoned at the front. She was also wearing snow-white denim with snow-white snow boots. Lastly, she has rectangular-frame glasses with white frames adorning her rust-colored eyes._

_The battlefield was a little different from Pryce and Candice's battlefields. The entire field was a flat sheet of ice, and it wasn't ground-level. The battlefield was inside a ditch and was surrounded by ice walls._

"_Now send out your Pokemon!"_

"_Umbreon, go!" Gary shouted as hurled out his Pokeball. The device popped and released the pure Dark-type Eeveelution Umbreon. "Shirit, go!" Heather said as she hurled out her Pokeball. Released was another Tenla Pokemon. It was legless and its back had a light blue kite-shaped object on it. The end of the kite had identically-aligned grooves. Its body is light blue with its shoulders and chest area covered by snow white (giving it the appearance of a mantle). Its wrists have two lines resembling bandages. Lastly, its face is covered by bandages but you can still its whole left eye area._

"_Oh man."Gary remarked as he quickly took out his Pokeball and scanned the new creature._

"_**Shirit: The Snow Bandit Pokemon, and the evolved form of Shiric. Shirit have a tendency to swoop down and blindly capture something during the winter, whether it is prey or someone's items."**_

(A/N: "Shirit" [sheer-it] is derived from the words "**shir**o" which I believe means "white" in Japanese, and "band**it**" which loosely explains the description the PokeDex gave above.)

"_So that Shirit is an Ice- and Normal-type Pokemon, eh?" Gary muttered as he put away his PokeDex. "Begin!" The referee announced signaling the initiation of the battle. "The challenger may have the first move." Heather announced with a smile. "OK then," Gary stated, "Umbreon, Double Team!"_

_Umbreon stood its ground and multiplied itself, surrounding the Snow Bandit Pokemon. "Hyper Voice!" Heather commanded in retaliation. "Guard that with Light Screen!"The former researcher hurriedly countered. Shirit raised its right hand and uncovered the bandages around its mouth. Then, a booming scream sounded from its mouth as light blue sound-waves were released. Umbreon and its clones created a cube of golden glass in hopes of attempting to repel the Hyper Voice. Unfortunately, the Hyper Voice's cacophonous wavelengths were too powerful for Light Screen to block and the latter shattered as a result._

_Then, Hyper Voice managed to reach the ears of Umbreon and its replications. Instantly, concentration was interrupted and Double Team was dispelled. "Umbre!" The Moonlight Pokemon screamed in pain."Brick Break!" Heather commanded once again. While still using Hyper Voice to prevent attacks from the Dark-type, Shirit floated over with a glowing hand and smashed Brick Break upon its target for super-effective damage._

"_Don't give up!" Gary encouraged when he saw Umbreon beginning to waver in stance already."Sand-Attack!" Turning around, Umbreon used its back legs and kick irritable sand into the Ice/Normal-type's visible while it was putting the bandages back over its mouth. "SHIR!" Shirit shouted as it covered its eye trying to alleviate the ailment to its sight. "Now hit him with Payback!" Gary ordered. Umbreon enveloped itself with a sinister black and purple aura, dashed over to the preoccupied Shirit, and rammed into it. The Snow Bandit Pokemon flew back from the power of Payback, considering the damage was doubled because of a prior Brick Beak. _

"_Reel it back in with Psychic, Umbreon!" Gary commanded. Umbreon's crimson eyes illuminated and psychically caught Shirit in mid-air and began to do its aforementioned command. "Giga Impact!" Heather retaliated. As Shirit was being forced back to Umbreon, its body became enveloped in a orange-yellow aura shaped like a bullet. "Watch out!" Gary notified his Pokemon hastily. Alarmed, Umbreon jumped out of the way so that the Giga Impact could create a crater on the ice floor._

"OK, I know that Giga Impact requires time to charge back up after usage so…" _Gary deliberated and then ordered, "Umbreon, Double Team!" Instantaneously, the Dark-type pokemon created clones that circled around the Ice/Normal-type. "Not on your life, Gary," Heather said smirking, "Ice Punch on the floor!" Shirit's left fist illuminated in an icy blue color and plunged the Ice Punch in the floor. A small sonar wave of icy blue energy was released on impact. The feet of the clones were frozen to the icy floor battlefield when the wave reached them. "Umbreon, no!" Gary exclaimed in dismay._

"_Giga Impact." Heather enjoined. Shirit glided across each and every Umbreon with the usual orange-yellow bullet-shaped aura until it encountered the real one. The Dark-type was eventually and helplessly hit with the physical version of Hyper Beam and fell to the ground hard. Swirls of discontinuity replaced its red eyes._

"_Umbreon is unable to battle! Shirit is the winner!"_

_Growling, Gary recalled his Umbreon, _"Man, what a beast…" _The brunette remarked mentally as he took out his next Pokeball. "Electivire, go!" He threw it out and Electivire was sent out into the battle. _

"_Begin!"_

"_Ice Punch." Heather commanded placing her hands on her hips. Shirit charged forward with its right fist glowing ice blue. "Protect!" Gary ordered. Electivire summoned a green_ _dome to block and repel Shirit's oncoming Giga Impact. The Normal-type attack failed and Shirit was forced to be unable to attack momentarily."Grab it and use Thunder!" While Shirit was stunned, the Thunderbolt Pokemon grabbed both of Shirit's arms and released deadly amounts of electricity. It only took ten seconds before Shirit was shocked into submission; Electivire released it from its grasp and watched the Ice/Normal-type fall to the ground._

"_Shirit is unable to battle! Electivire is the winner!"_

"_Phew. That's one down." Gary muttered as he somewhat uneasily watched Heather recall her Shirit. "I commend for taking out my Shirit so quickly, Gary, even if it fought against your Umbreon." Heather stated as she took out another Pokeball. "Heh. Thanks." Gary acknowledged with an arrogant smirk. "But now, I'd like to see how handle _this _one!" Heather, after articulating that, threw out her Pokeball._

_A gorilla-like Pokemon was released and it had the same height and approximately same body mass as a Slaking. It has thick yet smooth pure white fur/hair. Its hand, torso/chest, feet, and face are all dark blue. Its mouth has upward tusks protruding from its mouth. _

_Gary's arrogant smirk faded at the sight of the next icy warrior he had to battle while Electivire put his guard up in alertness. He then took out his PokeDex again and looked up the creature._

_**"Monizzar: The Powerhouse Pokemon. With mammalian strength and icy-cold breath, Monizarr reigns as "kings of the blizzards"**_

(A/N: "Monizzar" [moh-nizz-er] is derived from the words "**mon**key" symbolizing its primate nature, and "bl**izzar**d" which symbolizes its Ice-type nature.)

"_An Ice- and Fighting-type, eh? This one's gonna be tough." Gary said as stowed away his Pokemon Encyclopedia."Begin!" _

"_Earthquake, Electivire!" Gary commanded. The pure Electric-type stomped vigorously onto the icy floor in order to release a seismic tremor. "Jump and use Hammer Arm!" Heather commanded in response. Monizzar jumped up to avoid the trembling cursing the battlegrounds. Then, both of its arms glowed white as it rapidly descended down and slammed Hammer Arm onto Electivire. A lot of force and power was backed up into that Hammer Arm so that Electivire was immediately floored and a crater was created. _"Wh-whoa!" _Gary mentally exclaimed at the sight of the awesome power of the Powerhouse Pokemon. _

"_Thunder!" Gary commanded. Electivire, getting over the irksome agony from the hellish Hammer Arm, grabbed Monizzar's arms and released more massive jolts of electricity. Monizzar screamed as the electricity put a shock to its system. "Throw it away!" Heather enjoined. The Ice/Fighting-type quickly hurled away the Electivire in an attempt to avoid further electrocution. _

"_One more Thunder!"_

"_Block that with Rock Tomb!"_

_Electivire, while it was flying away, discharged another Thunder. However, Monizzar stomped on the frozen ground and summoned rock pillars to protect itself from the looming Thunder. "Hammer Arm again!" Heather commanded. Monizzar immediately jumped from behind the rock pillars and slammed another thunderous Hammer Arm onto Electivire. "ELECTIVRE!" The Thunderbolt Pokemon screamed in pain as it was sent into the westward ice wall. "Electivire!" Gary exclaimed in concern. Swirls of discontinuity appeared in its eyes as it slid off the cracked wall. _

"_Electivire is unable to battle! The winner is Monizzar!"_

_Gary snarled exasperatedly as he recalled his fallen Electivire and pulled out his final Pokeball. "Last one…must make this one catch." Gary mumbled hoping that he could pull a miracle out of nowhere. "Magmar, go!" He threw it and the Fire-type Pokemon Magmar was sent out._

"_Begin!"_

"_Fire Blast, go!" Gary ordered as Magmar fired a human-shaped blast of flames at Monizzar. "Stone Edge!" Heather ordered in rejoinder. Monizzar proceeded to punch the ground so that stone pillars could block the Fire Blast. "Will-O-Wisp!" Magmar summoned blue balls of fire and sent them out to Monizarr. "Blizzard!" Monizzar howled and discharged a snowstorm from its mouth in order to cancel out the Fire-type move with its Ice-type move. The Blizzard also had some more extra power so that it could catch Magmar in its clutches._

"_Keep calm! Sunny Day!" Gary commanded encouragingly. Suddenly the battlefield had bright, sunny light grace its presence and Monizzar's Blizzard immediately melted. "Now Solarbeam!" Gary commanded once more. Magmar, without the need to charge up Solarbeam, released a photosynthetic beam from its mouth. The Powerhouse Pokemon was struck with the attack and skidded backwards._

"_Will-O-Wisp one more time!" Gary smirked seeing he was getting the upper hand finally. The Spitfire Pokemon summoned more blue balls of fire and sent them toward Monizzar. Unlike last time, the Ice/Fighting-type was successfully burned. "Yes! Now Monizzar's Attack power will be reduced and it will suffer damage." Gary exclaimed. "But are you aware of Monizzar's ability?" Heather responded, alarming the Pallet Town resident._

_Said Pokemon's eyes suddenly became completely bloodshot as massive amount of killer intent washed into its mentality. With a guttural and vicious roar, Monizzar's ability kicked in. "Oh crap! Is that Guts?" Gary exclaimed in surprise. "That's right…Monizzar's power kicks in whenever inflicted with a status condition." Heather explained with a smirk, "Sic him."_

_Monizzar wildly jumped up with a Hammer Arm ready to break Magmar in half. "Dodge!" Gary ordered. Magmar sidestepped the oncoming Hammer Arm, but the resulting force caused a lot of the ice to crack. "God! Barbaric much?" Gary shouted in astonishment and then commanded his Pokemon, "Fire Blast!" _

"_Blizzard!" Magmar fired a human-shaped blast of fire from its mouth while Monizzar unleashed a howling snowstorm from its mouth. Both attacks clashed and caused a miniature explosion to occur while mist kicked up. Heather and Gary anxiously peered into the mist to see who survived the explosion._

_After thirty long seconds, the mist completely thinned out. What was revealed was that both Monizzar and Magmar were lying on the floor unable to continue battling. Gary's eyes widened since Magmar was his last Pokemon._

"_Both Monizzar and Magmar are unable to battle! This round results in a draw! But since all three of the challenger's pokemon were rendered unable to battle while the Gym Leader has one remaining, the victory goes to Heather!"_

"Heather is really strong, isn't she?" Winter said, understanding how Gary could lose her childhood friend. "Yeah…" Gary replied. "So when are you going for a rematch?" Brock asked. "Probably after I get another Gym Badge, then I'll come back and challenge her again." Gary answered. "Yeah, it's best you learn from your battle with her." Aaron recommended.

In the midst of the flashback, everyone managed to make it to where the Pokemon Center was located in Shiro Town. "We're here." Dawn announced. "Finally." Ian mumbled as he walked in with his friends.

Immediately upon entry, to the right of the Pokemon Center lobby, there is a small classroom-like getup with young children listening attentively to someone. "Now, the frozen status is the most ailing status condition of all Pokemon Battles. Finding a way to overcome his odd is challenging so listen carefully. If your Pokemon knows a Fire-type move _without _being a Fire-type itself, it is recommended to attempt to get your Pokemon to use it to quicken the thawing process. A surefire way to avoid freezing is to use Detect or Protect or counterattack with a Fire- or Ice-type move. However, you should only regard these conditions whenever you are using a non-Ice or Fire-type. If you do, your troubles with freezing are a thing of the past." The person, who was Heather, said to her class.

Two other people, most likely her parents, stood silently beside Heather as she taught her class. The male was wearing only a simple Corodoy jacket and formal pants and was carrying a silver jacket belonging to his wife. The female was wearing normal snow-day attire colored silver; her stomach also budged out but she definitely _not _obese, she was pregnant.

May leaned toward Winter and whispered, "Is that Heather?" Winter nodded and whispered back, "Yup, that's her." Seeing that Heather was rather busy at the moment, they waited patiently until she was finished teaching. "Well class dismissed! Be safe out!" Heather said cheerfully. "Yes, ma'am!" The class said in unison as they scurried their energetic bodies out of there.

"Heather!" Winter yelled as ran toward her childhood friend. "Winny, you made it!" Heather exclaimed in delight; however, the nickname caused Winter to fall over in front of her friend in shame. "My name isn't Winny!" Winter whined, her voice slightly muffled because of the floor. Everyone chuckled at the friendly sight before them (except Glaceon who rolled her eyes). "What a cute nickname." Dawn commented. "My, my, Winter," the unknown male spoke, "long time no see." The female beside her husband then said, "You have grown so much." Winter got up and replied, "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Hyouin." The Shiro Town resident then gestured to her pack of friends, "Heather, Mr. and Mrs. Hyouin, please meet Ash, Aaron, Ian, Brock, Misty, May, Max, Dawn, and Gary." With each name called she pointed at the person with the designation. "Nice to meet you all." Heather said happily. "Hi!" May and Max greeted in unison. "So you're Winter's childhood friend, eh?" Aaron stated with his arms crossed. "So nice to be able to acquaint you." Misty said with a smile.

"…_I'm surprised Brock hasn't tried to flirt with Heather yet."_ Ian and Ash thought at the same time. Brock diligently yet uneasily gazed at the husband and wife standing soundlessly behind their daughter, _"I'd be planning my own funeral if I coveted Heather in front of her own parents…"_

Winter then noticed Mrs. Hyouin's bulging stomach and said, "Um, not to sound nosy or anything, Mrs. Hyouin, but are you-" Already knowing where Winter was going, Heather's mother intervened to announce, "Yes, indeed."

"I'm going to be a big sister soon." Heather proudly said. "Awwww." Dawn and Winter said blithely. "That's great to hear!" Misty stated, just as happy for Heather. "When is it due? If I'm allowed to ask." Aaron inquired curiously. "It's quite all right," Mr. Hyouin replied, "It will be due in one month actually." Ian's dark grey eyes widened slightly, "Wow, that's close." Gary remarked while scratching the back of his head uneasily, "Yeah, that's awesome."

"Anyway," Winter said as the parents told their daughter goodbye and went about their business, "Heather, some of my friends here would like to challenge you?" Heather regulated her glasses and asked, "That so?" Ash replied, "That is correct." Heather looked at Winter and asked, "Are you going to challenge me too?" Winter nodded and replied, "Sure am."

..Waaaaaaaaaait a minute…

"Wait, what?" Ash and company exclaimed in confusion. Winter looked at them embarrassedly and stated, "Oh, I never did tell you…I'm challenge Gym Leaders for Gym Badges as well in addition to going for Contest Ribbons." While everyone (minus Winter and Heather) tried to register the revelation, the teal-haired girl reached into her snow jacket pocket and took out two cases.

Interestingly enough, each case was shaped like two different kinds of snowflakes. She then opened them up; the case for the Contest Ribbons had four endpoints for ribbons to be placed and the center was also made for a ribbon to be placed. The right left endpoint had the Firguson City Ribbon on it. The case for the Gym Badges had seven endpoints for the badges while the center also was to have a badge. The very top endpoint had the Firguson City Gym Badge.

"Oh great, another rival to add into the mix." Gary stated in slight dismay. "In both Contests _and _Gym Battles." Ian said as he watched Winter put away her cases. "Man, no wonder Winter was able to save my but back there..." Ash whispered to Pikachu so that only he and it could hear. "Pika. (I know right.)" Pikachu said. Glaceon, somehow, heard Pikachu and his trainer, "(Well what did you expect, pipsqueak? A circus performer? I'm a grade-A ass-kicker.)" The Mouse Pokemon looked at the Ice-type and responded, "Pika? Pikachu. (Really? You could have fooled me.)" Glaceon felt a vein pop in her forehead, "(At least I don't have to wear a gay-ass outfit.)" Pikachu grimaced; he was seriously contemplating on whether or not to electrocute the Fresh Snow Pokemon to death.

"But it's getting late, so let's have our matches tomorrow morning as opposed of today. I'm sure you all will need time to gather up your Pokemon and strategies and such." Heather exhorted. "Yes we will." Aaron said with a nod. "Then tomorrow it is." Ash announced while Pikachu chimed in the background.

But before they could bid a farewell, our most favorite action among the group occurred. Brock suddenly appeared _right _beside Heather and held her hand "Of course Heather! But I feel obligated to take you, the loveliest wintry girl of this region to her destination, on a romantic date out in the snow before your big event happens. Why? Because even when my heart is trapped in a cage of icicles, being near you thaws all that ice out!"

Ash had a sweat-drop grace the back of his head as he watched his longtime friend's pitiful yet daring attempt to ask out Heather. _"He was waiting until Heather's parents left…" _Thankfully, to prevent further humiliation by his Toxicroak, Max and Misty roughly pulled Brock's hear and dragged him off, "She's probably melting under that hot breath of yours."

"Well anyway…" Heather announced getting over the rather weird scene that just occurred, "I will leave you all alone for the rest of the day. See you tomorrow!" She began to walk out as she waved slightly. "Bye, Heather!" Everyone said in unison as they waved her goodbye. "Well, let's get settled in for today." Brock spoke. "You guys go ahead, I'm going to start training," Ash declared and then asked his fellow Pallet Town resident, "Minding helping me, Gary?" Gary shrugged before replying, "Sure thing, Ash."

With that, everyone went about their business to prepare for the oncoming night and next day. Ash, Aaron, and Winter will surely be preparing for their battle with their Heather because you can bet she will treat them just as she did Gary and his Pokemon.


	18. Icy Maidens' Duel

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Icy Maidens' Duel (Winter vs. Heather)**

Finally, the next day approached. Today was when Ash, Winter, and Aaron would be challenging Heather for her badge. All three were up the minute the sunset poked its head over the horizon. They had devised their strategies and trained all they could train in order to prepare for this certain battle.

"Scere, Gouzatile, and Fearow, you guys ready?" Ash surveyed his three pokemon for the battle. They were outside in the snow and ice. Scere and Gouzatile confidently responded while Fearow replied more nonchalantly. "Oh Fearow, you know you're ready to kick some tail!" Ash said to his Normal/Flying-type Pokemon. "(He is.)" Gouzatile hissed, "(He's just trying to act like a badass…and failing.)" Fearow shot a glare at the pure Fire-type pokemon and retorted, "(Don't tempt me, lizard.)"

"Wow, Glaceon…I'm going to be battling my childhood in an official Gym Leader battle." Winter muttered as she started out the window of her dormitory in the Pokemon. "(Don't let your feelings get in the way, girl. We still got a job to do, and I'm not letting your feelings get in my way. I'm pretty sure Shiric and Delibird will feel the same.)" Glaceon said as she jumped off the bed and onto the floor. "At least they'll be more sympathetic." Winter teased whilst poking her tongue out cutely at the Fresh Snow Pokemon.

"…I don't know, Magnezone…" Aaron said as he nervously shifted in his seat in the lobby of the Pokemon Center. "For some reason…after Gary's narration of his battle with Heather…I can't help but feel something ominous is about to occur." Magnezone looked at his trainer curiously, "Magne? (Are you not ready for battle just yet?)" Aaron replied, "Maybe, but then again I trained and devised strategies against Ice-types with Lucario, Scizor, and you yesterday." Magnezone stated, "Magnezone. (I trust your judgment, Aaron.) Magne. (If you're not ready when it's your time to battle, you'll know what to do and we'll understand.)" Aaron nodded and thanked, "Thanks, Magnezone. No wonder you're my best Pokemon."

Pretty soon, everyone met up with Ash outside the Pokemon Center. "You ready, Ash? Got all your stuff ready?" Gary inquired as he watched Ash recalled Gouzatile, Fearow, and Scere. "Just be careful, Ash," Brock cautioned, "Scere and Gouzatile will be participating in their first-ever Gym Battle." Ash nodded in acknowledgement and said, "Yes, I'll keep that in mind, but I'm going to focus more on my battle." Aaron spoke up, "Then let's get this show on road!"

Ash and company arrived at the Shiro Town Gym. The structure appeared as if it was made of ice more than steel or stone. The roof of the building possessed a painted-in layer of snow and some speckles of snowflakes adding to the decoration. "Here we are." Misty announced. "Heather should be inside, so let's enter." Winter stated as she sauntered into the gym with everyone else. Sure enough, the inside of the gym and battlefield were the same as Gary described yesterday.

Aaron released a low whistle as he examined the gym. "Chilling." Max commented, obviously punning the general layout of the gym. "Glad you guys made it." A female voice suddenly stated. Everyone looked to see Heather approaching the group with her father, Mr. Hyouin, following suit. "Hey, Heather." Ian greeted. "Hope you're ready for battling three of our friends." May said almost cautioning the Ice-type Gym Leader of the trio of challengers' abilities. "I am, so who's going first?" Heather asked. "I'll go last, so Winter and Ash you can decide." Aaron declared as he looked at the Pallet Town resident and the Shiro Town resident. "Well, Winter, how about you go first?" Ash said to her, "I'm curious to see how you battle." Winter nodded with a small smile, "You won't be disappointed."

"Very well then," stated Heather as began to walk to her side of the battlefield, "You know where to go, Winter!" The teal-haired women nodded again and went to her side of the battlefield. Ash and the rest of the spectators situated themselves at the benches and waited for the beginning of a rather chilly battle.

Mr. Hyouin, the referee, then verbalized, "The battle between Shiro Town Gym Leader, Heather, and the challenger, Winter, will now begin! This a three-on-three standard trainer in which the challenger is the only one able to substitute. A winner will be declared only when all three Pokemon are rendered unable to battle! Now send out your Pokemon!"

"Glaceon, let's chill Heather and her team out!" Winter threw out her Pokeball and the Fresh Snow Pokemon was released onto the battlefield. "Cryoxide, let's show Winter whose the better Ice-type Maiden! Go!" Heather tossed out her Pokeball and out came another Tenla-native Pokemon. The creature mostly has the standard white and light blue coloration of an Ice-type. It has two arms. The right arm has a visible meter of purple poison and three pincers lined up while the left arm is plainly white/light blue with two prongs. A skeletal "mantle" graces the majority of its body. The "mantle" is purple with white/light blue "bones", giving it the appearance of a bat wing. Underneath the "mantle" are four visible "legs" and a sac where the dark purple tendrils are coming out. Its head is dome-shaped and small, but has a feral appearance and has an ice structure on its head that resembles a "Y".

"Oh that looks a like a killer in my opinion." Ian commented as his dark grey eyes scanned the creature intently. "I-It does.." Dawn replied in concurrence. Gary and Ash took out their PokeDexes and looked up the creature.

**"Cryoxide: The Monoxide Pokemon and the evolved form of Corsenic. With twice the amount of poison its pre-evolved form possesses, a Cryoxide can easily quell even the angriest of Tauro, Rhyperiors, and Fearows. Cryoxide also creates monoxide-induced blizzards to capture prey."**

(A/N: "Cryoxide [cry-ox-ide] comes the words "**cryo**genic", meaning related to extremely low temperatures so this symbolizes its characteristics of an Ice-type, and "per**oxide**", a chemical compound to emphasize its Poison-type characteristics.)

"Whoa, an Ice- and Poison-type Pokemon." Ash commented in awe. "Yup, it's a killer." Ian declared, acknowledging the deadly power Cryoxide supposedly has. "Winter better be guarded with this one." Max stated.

"Begin!"

"You got the first move, Winter!" Heather shouted from her podium. "Thanks, Heather!" Winter said then commanded her pokemon, "Glaceon, advance!" The Fresh Snow Pokemon smirked and dashed for the stationary, floating Monoxide Pokemon. "Cryoxide, Poison Jab!" Heather commanded. The venom meter located in the right arm of Cryoxide glowed a light purple color. The three pincers glowed dark purple as they elongated two or three inches. "Counter with Iron Tail!" Winter ordered. Glaceon's tail illuminated a silvery color and hardened; then, she whipped around and collided against the Poison Jab.

"Ah, that was a good idea to use a Steel-type move to counter against a Poison-type move." Aaron observed, "Steel is immune to Poison." Heather commanded in retaliation, "Cryoxide, back away and use Hail!" The Monoxide Pokemon broke apart from that Poison Jab-Iron Tail stalemate and spontaneously summoned falling pellets of ice. Winter frowned a little whilst thinking, _"What's Heather planning? She knows my strategies revolve around Hail." _Glaceon eyed Cryoxide cautiously, knowing full-well something was cooking up in it and its trainer's mind, as her abilities, Snow Cloak, activated and made her blend into the Hail slightly.

"Cryoxide, Blizzard!" Heather commanded. Winter's teal eyes narrowed slightly in alarm, _"Maybe that's why?" _The Ice/Poison-type unleashed a howling Blizzard in the midst of the Hail. "Dodge it, Glaceon!" Winter commanded. The pure Ice-type Eeveelution nodded and sidestepped the Blizzard, only to narrowly avoid missing it. "Huh, so that's why Heather used Hail against another Ice-type." Brock spoke up, "Blizzard has increased accuracy during Hail. It may not be that effective against another Ice-type, but they still can get frozen like any other Pokemon."

"One more Blizzard!" Cryoxide once again unleashed a Blizzard toward Glaceon. "Glaceon, stay put." Winter enjoined. The Fresh Snow Pokemon obliged its command and waited for the Ice-type attack to approach closer. "Mirror Coat!" Winter commanded when the Blizzard was in the desired proximity of her pokemon. Glaceon smirked as a light pink aura enveloped its body and absorbed the Blizzard. Immediately afterwards, the Blizzard was redirected toward Cryoxide at double the damage. The target was successfully hit with the attack. "Oh that was a nice move!" Gary remarked. "Looks like Winter knows how to think on her toes." Misty said. "How could something so chilling be so hot?" Brock stated in a bedazzled condition. Max pulled Brock's right ear to snap him out of his stupor, "It's also something you'll never get."

"OK, let's get on the offensive, Glaceon!" Winter pronounced and then ordered, "Ice Beam!" Glaceon opened her mouth and discharged a ray of ice at the Ice/Poison-type pokemon. "Cryoxide, Hidden Power!" Heather commanded. Cryoxide assembled white atomic energy in the form of five overlapping ellipses. Then, it discharged this energy as a pulse of white flames. Hidden Power [Fire] not only cancelled out the Ice Beam, but it also melted some of the Hail. "Watch out, Glaceon!" Winter cautioned. Glaceon dodged the Hidden Power itself, but slipped on something wet and slippery when it recovered afterwards.

"Oh man! Glaceon!" May exclaimed when the Fresh Snow Pokemon fell to the ground after slipping. "I think the purpose of that Hidden Power was to make the ice slippery, even for an Ice-type like Glaceon!" Max observed. "Poison Jab!" Heather commanded. Cryoxide, seizing the opportunity, dashed toward the fallen Glaceon and successfully landed a Poison Jab on her. The pure Ice-type howled in pain as damage was dealt and was inflicted with the Poison status ailment.

"Glaceon, no!" Winter exclaimed in surprise. "Let's wrap this up, Cryoxide. One more Poison Jab." Heather ordered with a victorious smile. Cryoxide backed up a certain distance and then dived toward Glaceon with Poison Jab ready to finish this round. "Barrier!" Winter commanded. Suddenly, Glaceon's eyes glowed and materialized a bright magenta shield around her. The Poison Jab connected against Barrier but was proven to be ineffective. "Now Iron Tail!" Working against the irksome Poison status ailment, Glaceon got onto her feet and delivered a thunderous Iron Tail straight across the head of Cryoxide. The Monoxide Pokemon slammed against the northward ice wall while Glaceon submitted to the Poison.

"Glaceon and Cryoxide are unable to battle! This round results in a draw!" Mr. Hyouin officiated. "Dang, they must be powerful in order to knock each other out with only a couple of hits." Gary stated as he watched the two Ice-type trainers recalled their fallen Pokemon. "I know right." Ash stated in agreement. "Let's see what else they have in store for us." Misty uttered interested to see more in the battle.

"All right, time for Round 2." Winter declared as took out her next Pokeball, "Delibird, go!" She then tossed it out and the Delivery Pokemon was released from it. "Geoclake, help me out here!" Heather shouted as she tossed out her next Pokeball. The Pokemon resembled a roadrunner, and so, was part Flying-type because of its bird traits. The feathers on the creature were colored ice blue including the wings (except a line of white gracing the middle of the inside of the wings). Its legs and talons were sky blue, and its beak was light orange. "Another one, eh?" Aaron muttered as he and Dawn took out their Pokeballs.

**"Geoclake: The Roadrunner Pokemon. Geoclake is able to sprint across the thinnest sheets of ice without the ice breaking or it slipping. Conversely, their flight speeds are notably faster in warmer climates."**

(A/N: "Geoclake" [geh-oh-clake] comes from the words "**geoc**occyx", the scientific name for roadrunners which is the bird Geoclake is based off on, and "snowf**lake**" which shows its relation to the Ice-type.)

Aaron let a low, impressed whistle escape through his lips as Dawn commented, "Real nice."

"Begin!"

"Delibird, Water Pulse!" Winter commanded starting off the second round. Delibird's eyes illuminated blue as it fired rings of water at Geoclake. "Geoclake! Dodge and use Aerial Ace!" Heather enjoined in retaliation. Staying true to its speedy nature, Geoclake dashed away from the Water Pulse expeditiously. Then it leaped slightly in oder to tuck its legs into its body while extending its wings; so that it could assume a normal flying position. Finally, it lunges at Delibird with sharp blurs of wind trailing behind it. "Whoa, what speed." Max commented in awe. "Did all that in a matter of seconds." Brock remarked also in a state of stupefaction like Max was.

"Delibird, Present!" Winter commanded. Acting quickly, Delibird reached into its bag, pulled out a box, and chucked it at the charging Geoclake, "Deli! (Merry Christmas!)" The Delivery Pokemon shouted mockingly. Unfortunately for the Roadrunner Pokemon, it flew straight into the box and elicited an explosion. The Ice/Flying-type pokemon flew out of the smoke, shaking its head to alleviate the shock. "Geoclake, you OK?" Heather questioned in order to ascertain its condition. When she a positive reaction, she commanded, "All right. Let's use Quick Attack!"

Geoclake dashed toward Delibird immediately whilst leaving a white blur. "Dodge it, Delibird!" Winter commanded; however, living up its name, Quick Attack managed to strike Delibird before the latter could even do anything. "DELI!"

"Counter back with Focus Punch!" Delibird regained its composure and charged at Geoclake with its right arm glowing white. The Roadruner Pokemon got hit by the Focus Punch and sent flying toward the ceiling of the building. "Bounce back with Aerial Ace!" Heather commanded. Geoclake extended out its talon/legs from its body and caught itself on the ceiling. Then it pushed itself off and used the momentum for the proceeding Aerial Ace.

Delibird was once again hit by the Aerial Ace and sent crashing into the ice."Water Pulse!" Winter ordered. The Ice/Flying-type got back on its feet and hurled multiple aquatic rings at Geoclake. The airborne latter was hit by the attack and was forced to land on the icy ground. "Hurry and use Blizzard! Follow it up with Air Slash!" Heather commanded. Geoclake extended its wings and flapped them so as to create a howling snowstorm. "Counter that with Hail!" Winter commanded. Delibird created its own hailstorm in order to counteract Geoclake's Blizzard. Then, a thin sharp gale of wind pierced suddenly through the snowstorms. Winter quickly noticed this and hurriedly ordered, "Delibird, hurry use and Present!" Taking account of its trainer's rushed words, Delibird promptly reached into its bag and pulled out a box, but the Air Slash was much faster and hit the Delivery Pokemon and caused the box to fly into the air.

Eventually, the snowstorm subsided to reveal a fainted Delibird onto the icy ground. "Delibird!" Winter cried out in worry. "Heh. Got you-" Then an unexpected stroke of luck occurred. The box that Delibird pulled out as a result of Present came crashing down on Geoclake and exploded. Heather's rust-colored eyes widened in shock while Winter plainly said, "..I'll take that."

"Both Geoclake and Delibird are unable to battle! This round also results in a draw!"

"Whoa, another one?" Ash catechized whilst blinking his slightly wide eyes. "Man, they're even." Dawn commented. "But this round will determine if they are truly even." Brock said, almost in a foreboding tone.

"Let's finish this, Winter." Heather determinedly declared as she took out her last Pokeball. "And so we shall." Winter responded as she also took out her last Pokeball. "Shiric, chill her out!" She threw it out and another new creature was revealed. The Pokemon was short, almost resembling the average child's height at the age of five. Its skin was colored sky blue. Its "shirt" was ice blue and seemed at least two sizes too big for it and covered the majority of its body. Its shoulders were only parts of its body (other than its hands, neck, and jaws/mouth) that could be seen. Equally aligned white groves adorned the top of its outfit resembling an icy mountaintop range. The cuffs of its sleeves also possessed similarly designed grooves. Lastly, it had a white mask that resembled a "w" except with the starting and ending lines elongated by at most 3-4 inches. The tips of these lines had designs that resembled snowflakes.

"Oh man, more Tenla Pokemon." Dawn said she took out her PokeDex. "This region is _already _looking promising." Gary stated eagerly.

"**Shiric: The Snow Child Pokemon. With its bodily temperature less than -160 degrees, whenever Shiric touches a surface, it could freeze instantly."**

"Shirit, go!" Heather also flung out her Pokeball and the released Shirit, the Snow Bandit Pokemon. Shiric stared its evolved form cautiously considering it was at least twice its size and power. "Shir! (Boo!)" Shirit bullishly exclaimed causing its pre-evolved form to be startled and fall on its hindquarters. "…Sucks to be matched against your evolved form." Ian pointed out. "Pika pi. (Trust me, I know.)" Pikachu agreed reminiscing all the times it was pitted against a Raichu. "But you can still pull it off." Max said. "True." Brock responded, "But let's sees what happens."

"Begin!"

"Shirit, use Giga Impact!" Heather commanded. Shirit charged at Shiric while enveloped by an orange-yellow aura. "Use Ice Lift to dodge!" Shiric created a platform of ice underneath it so that it could levitate itself into the air to avoid the Giga Impact. "Ice Lift?" May uttered the command again in confusion. "I believe Ice Lift is a move that allows you to levitate in mid-air with an ice platform. Kinda like the Ice-type version of Magnet Rise or Levitate." Brock explained sagaciously. "Oh, no you don't! Brick break!" Heather ordered. "Powder Snow!" Winter said in response. Shiric waved an arm and released a small gust of snow at Shirit. The Snow Bandit Pokemon was blinded by the Powder Snow yet it was able to chop at the Ice Lift platform, destroying it.

The Snow Child Pokemon fell down onto the floor from the wreckage, leaving it open for split-seconds. "Ice Punch!" Heather commanded. "Mist!" Winter enjoined in retaliation. Shiric waved its arms and summoned a white cloud to immure the battling Ice/Normal-types from the humans. Shirit blindly Ice Punched the air unable to locate Shiric in the mist. "Shiric, Last Resort!" Winter commanded. Suddenly, six glowing objects resembling stars appeared sparsely inside the Mist. Shocked and confused, the evolved Ice/Normal-type looked around in the Mist.

"Hyper Voice." Heather commanded. Shirit grabbed the bandages around its mouth, pulled them off, and released an ear-shattering sound-wave. Not only did everyone have to cover their ears, the Mist dissolved away as a result. Shiric was revealed to be suffering from Hyper Voice but was trying to make sure the Last Resort would stay in effect. "Brick Break!" Shirit ceased using Hyper Voice in order to charge at Shiric with Brick Break ready to strike. "Shiric, watch out!" Winter shouted to her defenseless pokemon. Sadly, the Brick Break successful hit Shiric, and the latter flew straight into the eastward ice wall.

Winter nervously bit her lip, "Come on, Shiric…Please use your Last Resort!" Shiric finally satisfied its trainer's command by manipulating the starlit energy objects to fly directly at Shirit. "Hyper Voice!" Heather commanded. The Snow Bandit Pokemon faced at the approaching Last Resort and used Hyper Voice to counter dispel the attack. "Ice Lift!" Winter commanded. Shiric produced another platform of ice but, instead of using it for levitation, it threw the platform at Shirit as a means of attacking. "Giga Impact!" Shirit surrounded itself in a bullet-shaped yellow/orange aura and shredded through the Ice Lift easily.

"Mist!" Once again the field was blanketed in a thick sheet of white. "Another Hyper Voice!" Shirit screamed out another ear-shattering sound-wave so that Mist could be dispelled once more. Shiric's location was uncovered; it was holding its head dizzily because of the high octaves Hyper Voice sent into its earlobes. "Ice Punch!" Heather ordered. Shirit glided rapidly toward Shiric and connected a thunderous icy fist onto it. The vigor from the attack caused the Snow Child Pokemon to recede back into the eastward wall. A collective gasp escaped the lips of the spectators as they witnessed Shiric sliding off the ice with swirls of discontinuity in its eyes.

"Shiric is unable to battle! Shirit is the winner, and the victory goes to Heather!"

Winter hung her head low in defeat as an eerie silence befell the audience of the matchup. "Oh man…" Aaron said in a hushed tone. "Dang…Heather really is powerful." Ian stated in a similar soft tone. May and Dawn had analogous expressions of shock. "No…..way…." Ash said.

While the group was getting over their dumbfounded state, the two Ice-type enthusiasts shook hands. "Excellent battle, Winter, even though you…you know." Heather acknowledged but tried not to say much concerning the recent defeat. "It's quite all right," Winter reassured with a small evidently not that disappointed in her loss, "I'll come back and win."

Heather nodded, titled her glasses, and peered at the small crowd in the stands as Winter took her seat, "OK, who is next in line?"


	19. Disruptive Defeat

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Disruptive Defeat (Ash vs. Heather)**

_Heather nodded, titled her glasses, and peered at the small crowd in the stands as Winter took her seat, "OK, who is next in line?"_

"That would be me." Ash bravely answered as he stood up from his seat. "Good luck, Ash." Brock and Misty said in unison. "You'll need it, man." Gary added in. With a confident nod, the Pride of Pallet town went to his side of the battlefield while Heather went back to hers.

"The battle between Shiro Town Gym Leader, Heather, and the challenger, Ash Ketchum, will now begin! This a three-on-three standard trainer in which the challenger is the only one able to substitute. A winner will be declared only when all three Pokemon are rendered unable to battle! Now send out your Pokemon!"

"Alright then." Ash turned his cap around so that the visor shaded the back on his head rather than the front, "Gouzatile, go!" He then threw out his Pokeball and released the Lizard Pokemon from its Pokeball. "Walrein, come out!" Heather threw out her Pokeball and the Ice Break Pokemon was released from its Pokeball. "A Walrein?" Dawn catechized, having not seen a Walrein before, and took out her PokeDex.

"**Walrein: The Ice Break Pokemon and the evolved form of Sealeo. Walrein swims all over in frigid seawater while crushing icebergs with its grand, imposing tusks. Its thick layer of blubber makes enemy attacks bounce off harmlessly."**

"Oh man, Walrein is part-Water…" Ash mumbled uneasily as he eyed the ready Water/Ice-type on the field across from Gouzatile. "Begin!" Mr. Hyouin declared. "Your go, Ash." Heather informed as she crossed her arms.

"OK! Gouzatile, Slash!" Ash commanded. Gouzatile hissed before darting for Walrein expeditiously with its claws illumining white. "Curse." Heather ordered. The outline of Walrein's body was enclosed by a pink aura, raising its Defense and Attack in exchange for lowering its Speed. The Lizard Pokemon successfully connected Slash, but the Ice Break Pokemon used its increased Defense to repel Gouzatile like a trampoline. The pure Fire-type was bounced away and skidded across the icy floor.

"Waterfall." Walrein's eyes glowed blue as water spontaneously appeared in the battlefield and shot up to rival the height of a small tower. Then, it came crashing down. "Substitute!" Ash commanded. Instantaneously, a replicated doll of itself replaced its former appearance so that it could endure the deadly Waterfall at the expense for some of its health. "Substitute?" Aaron questioned whilst raising an eyebrow. "I recommended to Ash that he teach Gouzatile Substitute," Gary spoke, "seeing as it possessed little to no defensive mechanisms."

"Use Curse again." Heather commanded. Afresh, Walrein raised its Attack and Defense stats whilst decreasing its Speed stat. "Gouzatile, get close and use Flamethrower!" Using its claws to keep it steady against the ice, Gouzatile crawled as fast as it could in order to close the gap between it and Walrein. Next, when the Lizard Pokemon deemed it was adjacent enough, it unleashed a blaze of flames from its mouth. The Ice Break Pokemon simply endured the Flamethrower swimmingly thanks to its ability Thick Fat. "Avalanche." Heather commanded. Walrein countered back by convening massive amounts of falling ice, doubled in power since the user suffered damage before usage.

"Dodge it!" Ash ordered. Gouzatile smirked and proceeded to slide under, sidestep, jump over, and whirl around the immense amounts of cascading ice. Sometimes it had to resort to using Flamethrower to melt particularly threatening ones. "Man, Gouzatile's doing excellent for its second battle!" Misty exclaimed happily. "It certainly has improved since battling my Cloyster." Winter stated smilingly. "That's Ash and his training for you." Max said.

Eventually, the Avalanche failed to hit its mark and Gouzatile was thankfully unharmed. "Huh, not bad at all, Ash." Heather complimented with an impressed countenance. "If you think that's good, wait till you see this!" Ash shouted, "Gouzatile, Flamethrower!" The Lizard Pokemon once again shot out a Flamethrower from its mouth. "Protect, Walrein." Heather calmly commanded. The Water/Ice combination promptly blocked the Fire-type move with a green dome. "Leer!" Ash ordered. Gouzatile sent a nasty glare toward Walrein that intimidated it enough to lower its Defense. "I don't think so! Waterfall!" Heather ordered. The Ice Break Pokemon created another Waterfall; only this time, as it was being summoned, the water circled around Gouzatile instead of rising than falling.

Gouzatile and Ash's eyes widened in shock as the Shiro Town Gym Leader signaled, "Now!" Because of the torrential cylindrical cage was surrounding Gouzatile, all of the water began to collapse around it. _"Don't have a choice." _Ash mentally groused while slightly gritting his teeth, "Gouzatile, use Substitute!" The Lizard Pokemon suddenly created another decoy so that the deadly Water-type attack would strike it instead; all at the expense of some of its health sacrificed. When the water washed away, Heather commanded again, "Curse!" The outline of Walrein's body was covered with that same sinister pink aura in order to increase Attack and Defense in exchange for lowering Defense.

"Flamethrower!" Gouzatile, as per command of its trainer, unleashed a jet of heavy flames from its mouth at Walrein. Even with its Thick Fat ability, Walrein suffered heavy damage from the attack and even was cursed with the Burn status ailment. "Avalanche!" Heather commanded. Suddenly Walrein assembled another amassment of falling ice; however, the Avalanche was materialized behind Gouzatile instead of Walrein itself. This time, the Fire-type couldn't evade the attack and was buried alive with Avalanche.

Heather titled her glasses, the overhead lights making them glint momentarily, before wondering, "Is it still up?" Ash soundlessly peered into the icy wreckage for his Gouzatile. Eventually, after few tense seconds, Gouzatile dig itself from the icy detritus. But when it did the pokemon fainted finally out of exhaustion. "Gouzatile is unable to battle! Walrein is the winner!"Ash snapped his fingers, "Man! So close!" He groaned before taking out his Pokeball and recalling Gouzatile, "You did well for only your second battle, Gouzatile."

"Well, that's one down for Ash." Gary said as he leaned back in his seat. "Man, Gouzatile was on fire in that round though." Max said almost melancholily, "It stinks that it lost...It hasn't won a major battle yet."

Before Ash took out his next pokeball, he could've sworn Gouzatile's Pokeball heated up somewhat for some odd reason. Disregarding that, the battle continued. "Scere, I choose you!" Ash shouted as he tossed out his next Pokeball. The Rambunctious Pokemon was released onto the battlefield with a peppy grin on its face. "A Scere? Odd selection…" Heather mumbled to herself.

"Begin!" Mr. Hyouin notified the two trainers to start. "Scere, Bullet Punch!" Ash commanded. The pure Dark-types' arms suddenly glowed a light grey color and dashed toward Walrein. "Bullet Punch?" Aaron questioned. "Ash had Scere's whole move set changed. But honestly, I like this new one better than the old." Gary responded in explanation.

"Curse!" Heather enjoined. Walrein's body began to glow once more. "Snatch!" Scere's eyes glinted a quick purplish color; Walrein's Curse was suddenly deactivated but the change in stats happened to Scere rather than it. Then, Scere slammed the Bullet Punch straight into Walrein's gut, but the latter attempted to use its blubber to push back the attack (consequently struggling whilst doing so). "Avalanche now!" Heather commanded in alarm. Walrein, in the midst of its struggle, created another snow slide above them. "Evade, Scere!" Ash commanded. Using Walrein's infamous blubber as a trampoline, the Rambunctious Pokemon bounced and skated away to avoid Avalanche.

"Waterfall!" Heather ordered. The Water/Ice brought about another tower of water and made it fall toward Scere. "Payback on the floor!" Ash commanded. The Dark-type's body was surrounded in a black light as it punched the icy floor. The action resulted in a small ice dam to uproot in front of Scere to block the raging waters. Heather and Walrein's eyes widened slightly as Ash ordered with a smirk, "Now Mach Punch!" Scere leaped from behind the ice dam with its right fist engulfed in slivery light. Then, when it threw a punch, the apparition of an astral fist was sent at blinding speeds toward Walrein. The latter was hit with the attack and a crater formed from the impact appeared underneath Walrein. The excess water from Waterfall died out as Walrein collapsed in defeat. "Walrein!" Heather exclaimed. "Walrein is unable to battle! The winner of this round is Scere!" Mr. Hyouin officiated. Scere cutely struck its tongue at the fallen Ice Break Pokemon. "Scere. (Take that, sucker.)"

"Wow, Scere did excellent!" Brock remarked in awe. "Well, it is a natural-borne thief," Ian joked with a mock sneer, "It should at least have _some _ability to defend itself in battle." Heather recalled Walrein into its pokeball using an infrared beam from the device to dematerialize into infrared energy and sucking back in. "Thank you, Walrein." She thanked as she took out another Pokeball. "Jynx, go!" The Human Shape Pokemon materialized from the white light liberated from the red and white mechanism.

"Begin!"

"Your go, Ash."

"Thanks, Heather! Scere, Mach Punch!" Scere smirked and discharged an astral fist faster with speeds rivaling that of Mach 1. "Blizzard!" Jynx opened its mouth and unloaded a howling snowstorm. The Blizzard managed to cancel out the Mach Punch and catch Scere in its snowy clutches. "Grass Knot." Heather ordered with a smile. While the Rambunctious Pokemon was busy trying to endure the Blizzard, glowing green seedlings appeared from underneath the ice and ensnared it. "Scere, no!" Ash cried out. "Lovely Kiss." Jynx placed her left hand onto her pink lips and blew a kiss in the form of a floating crimson heart.

Scere was struck with Lovely Kiss and instantly different into dreamland while still in Grass Knot's clutches. "Dang it!" Ash hissed in frustration. "Time to wrap this round up. Blizzard." Heather enjoined. Once more, Jynx fired a Blizzard except that this one hit the Dark-type head on and elicited an instant knockout.

"Scere is unable to battle! Jynx is the winner!"

"Oh man," May stated almost fearfully, "Ash is down to his last pokemon." Aaron grimly added on, "Things aren't looking up for him…" The strategic brunette then thought, _"And things definitely won't look up to me either…"_

Ash recalled his fallen Scere while whispering words of acknowledgment. "OK, it's all up to you, man…Go, Fearow!" The Beak Pokemon was afterwards let loose from its red and white confinement. The Normal/Flying-type combination let out a battle screech as it eyed its opponent readily.

"Begin!"

"Fearow, Heat Wave!" Ash commanded. Fearow flapped its large wings and suddenly an arid wave of heat energy was sent toward Jynx. "A Fearow can learn Heat Wave?" Misty questioned as she blinked her eyes in incredulity. "It can," Gary answered, "Just requires a little more extra trainng." The Ice-type Gym Leader ordered in retaliation, "Blizzard!" Jynx opened its mouth and fired another howling system of ice and snow. The attacks collided and cancelled each other out. "Fearow, charge at Jynx!" Ash commanded as Fearow dive-bombed toward Jynx. "Lovely Kiss!" Heather commanded. The Human Shape Pokemon swiftly let loose another Lovely Kiss at the fast-charging Beak Pokemon. "Not today! Mirror Move!" Ash commanded as Fearow's wings suddenly illumined a mirror-like color. When Lovely Kiss came in dangerously close proximity of it, Fearow swatted it and the Lovely Kiss was suddenly redirected at Jynx. The Ice/Psychic-type instantly fell asleep before it could register what just happened.

"Excellent move!" Dawn exclaimed in admiration. "I smell the end!" Ian yelled happily, "Get her, Ash!" Ash smirked and enjoined her Pokemon, "Knock Jynx into the air with Steel Wing!" The Beak Pokemon shrieked before letting its wings illuminated silver. Then, it knocked the slumbering Ice/Psychic combination into the air. However, the force alone was enough to end Jynx's siesta. "Now knock it back down with Steel Wing again!" Fearow expeditiously flew into the air after Jynx and readied the finishing Steel Wing.

"Might as well leave Ash with a lovely parting gift." Heather said, "Perish Song." Jynx released a woeful melody from its mouth causing white musical notes to appear over the heads of her and Fearow. Nonetheless the Beak Pokemon slammed down its Steel Wing which made Jynx fall toward ice leaving a crater. "Jynx is unable to battle! Fearow is the winner!" Mr. Hyouin officiated. When Jynx was declared unable to continue, the musical notes above its head magically disappeared. "Oh no, not Perish Song…" Dawn muttered in worry. "Perish Song…a last resort move that lets the affected target only live for a certain amount of time." Ian explained as his hardened eyes watched Heather recall Jynx back into her Pokeball.

Ash gritted his teeth anxiously, "_Man…Fearow might not have enough to take out Heather's last Pokemon…"_ "Dewgong, let's end this battle!" Heather state as she threw out her final Pokeball. The Water/Ice-type Sea Lion Pokemon was sent out onto the battlefield. "Begin!"

"_Let's finish this one fast." _"Fearow, Heat Wave!" Fearow, with another shriek, flapped its wings and discharged another surge of thermal energy. "Whirlpool." Heather commanded. Dewgong immediately summoned a spiraling vat of water around it to block the Heat Wave. "Fearow, Mirror Move!" Ash commaned again, getting rather desperate under the pressure he was under. The Beak Pokemon's wings glowed again and imitated the Whirpool Dewgong recently utilized; the Sea Lion Pokemon was hit. Unfortunately the musical notes above Fearow's head darkened into a silvery color, signaling that two more turns remained until Fearow's demise.

"_Work fast, work fast…" _"Steel Wing!" Ash commanded hastily. The Normal/Flying-type Pokemon charged at the Water/Ice-type with its wings hardened and ready to strike. "Disable." Heather commanded calmly. Before Steel Wing could connect, the Steel-type maneuver unexpectedly deactivated. "Hyper Beam!" Ash retaliated in shock. "Fake Out!" Dewgong's eyes flashed and caused immediate flinching for Fearow; the musical notes darkened once more into a grey color, symbolizing once more turn until the ultimate end. "No!" Ash exclaimed in distress; he was officially losing badly. "Encore then Whirlpool!" Dewgong clapped its fins pantomiming how a real-world sea lion would do to show off at an aquarium. Then a raging tower of spiraling water appeared underneath Dewgong to shoot up into the air.

The praise Fearow received from Encore psychologically forced it to repeat Hyper Beam; however, the powerful Normal-type attack disintegrated the Whirlpool instead of hitting its mark. "The final blow," Heather forebodingly declared before saying, "One more Whirlpool!" As Dewgong descended toward the Beak Pokemon, more spiraling vats of H20 appeared around it. Unable to move because of the use of Hyper Beam, Fearow was sadly struck with the Water-type move. "FEAROW NO!" Ash screamed in disbelief. When the Whirlpool dispersed, Fearow was drenched and struggling to get back up. Ominously the musical notes darkened into their complete black state, sapping away the rest of Fearow's ability to continue and ending this battle.

"Fearow is unable to battle! Dewgong is the winner and the victory goes to Heather!"

"Daaaaang…" Aaron and Ian remarked huskily in shock. "Two in a row…" Max observed in disbelief. "Oh Ash…" Misty whimpered, feeling sorry for her long-time best friend. Ash shook his head and stated, "We tried, that's all I care about." He then recalled Fearow back into its Pokeball at the same time Heather recalled her triumphant Dewgong. "Aaron, you think you're ready for her?" May asked as she looked at the other brunette male. "I don't know really…" Aaron replied in uncertainty.

Heather and Ash exchanged handshakes as the former stated, "Well-played battle Ash. I expect both you and Winter to come back for a challenge," Ash nodded and vowed for the both of them, "You bet we will. We'll be back stronger than ever." Heather looked at the group again and asked, "Are there anymore challenges?"

Abruptly, Aaron answered before anyone else could say something else, "No, there isn't. You're finished for today." Everyone, excluding Heather who blinked in confusion, turned their heads to Aaron in shock. "Granted, I _will _be a challenger, but just not today. I am definitely not prepared to fight, regardless of the strategies I have in mind." Aaron explained rationally. Everyone stayed quiet as the Metropolis Town resident finished his "forfeit". Heather nodded in acknowledgment, "I understand, Aaron. It seems some improvement could be used for all three of you." Aaron agreed, "Yes, that is something that cannot be denied."

"Well..I guess that's it." Winter announced as she stood from her seat. Ash and company nodded soundlessly before also getting up from their seat, wanting to leave what recently happened at the Shiro Town Gym behind for the rest of the day to eat way.

The twilight finally approached upon Shiro Town as the group stationed themselves at the stairs that would lead them back to where the fork in the road would be. Heather stood in front of them saying, "Well, if you're not planning to stay in Shiro Town, you have two options. If you take these stairs and go back, you can head to Ryojima Mountain where the next Gym is. But you'll have to pass by Aparra Village on the way. If you take that cave on southeast tip of town, you'll be on your way to Shadow Cavern City, the next gym. But again, you'll need to pass Byzantine Town on the way."

Gary, who stood beside Heather, said, "I'll be taking the cave so I guess I'll smell you guys later." Ash nodded and said, "Got'cha, Gary, guess that means we'll be going to Ryojima Mountain then come back." Heather looked at the coordinators of the group, "Good news for you, May, Dawn, Ian, and Aaron. Aparra Village and Byzantine Town are each gonna have a Pokemon Contest." Ian smirked, "Oh, so I got a choice as to which place I get to shine brightly upon?" Aaron replied, "Just don't lose because our pact gets restarted after your contest." Ian responded, "I won't. So let's head to Aparra Village since we're on the way to Ryojima Mountain."

"Then this goodbye for now, Heather." Winter said as she hugged her childhood friend. "You'll be back, so will the rest of you." Heather stated as she broke the hug and watched the group began going up the stairs. "Bye!" She stated as she and Gary waved.

"Goodbye, Heather!/See you soon!/We'll return shortly!" Were some of parting words exchanged between Ash and company and the Shiro Town Gym Leader. The gang left the snowy confines of Shiro Town in order to pursue the heated trailed toward Ryojima Mountain, but we'll first have to see how Ian fairs at the Aparra Village Pokemon Contest.


	20. Smoke and Maidow Part 1

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Smoke and Maidow Part 1**

Ash and company long left behind Shiro Town in order to pursue their next destination: Aparra Village, the site of the next Pokemon Contest that Ian would be participating in. The chilliness from Shiro Town and its vicinity also miraculously disappeared barring further need for their winter jackets (except Winter who seemed to be used to wearing it anywhere). Nighttime had exchanged places with the twilight approximately ten minutes ago.

"It's getting late, guys, we should set up camp." Brock announced as he stopped walking. "I don't know, Brock," the younger Maple sibling objected as he looked at the digital map on his PokeNav, "Aparra Village actually isn't that far from here anymore." Misty looked over his shoulder and stated, "He's right. It isn't."

"So that means it's merely a matter of whether we want to get there faster or play it safe and conserve energy for tomorrow." Aaron deduced as he examined the horizon for any signs of artificial light from street-poles or etc. that would signal the adjacency of Aparra Village. "I say we set up camp." Dawn voiced her opinion, "I don't think it's healthy to stay up any later just to get to a town we'll be in a matter of minutes tomorrow morning." Ash objected, "Then again, if we get to Aparra Village now, we'll save trouble later. And in Ian's favor, he'll already be at the destination of his Pokemon Contest."

"I kinda have to agree with Dawn," May stated with a small yawn, "Besides all the bad stuff usually happens at nighttime." Ian smirked and playfully asked, "What's the matter, May? Scared of the dark?" May shot a glare at the Ghost-type specialized coordinator and spat back, "How about you go jump off a bridge?" Ian countered daringly, "Show me where a bridge is and I'll jump!"

"_However_!" Winter suddenly spoke causing all attention to divert to her, "Standing here compromising each other will just waste away either option we have." Brock couldn't help but agree with Winter's argument, "Winter's right, we're not giving each other much of a choice." Misty then proposed, "Well, this _is _a democratic region, right? I say we vote. All in favor who want to set up camp?"

May and Dawn immediately raised their hands whilst proclaiming, "I!" Max, after another second or two, slowly raised his hand, "I." When the second half of the Maple siblings agreed to the decision that contradicted his progress, Ian teased with a playful smirk, "Apparently scaredy-cats run in the family." May and Max had an anger-mark decorate their left temple as they retorted, "Beg your pardon?"

"Ian, shut up." Misty demanded, stopping any further negative enticement. "Now all in favor for heading straight to Aparra Village." Ash and Ian instantly raised their hands, eager to get the show on the road to accomplish their respective objectives quicker. Aaron raised his hand after a couple of seconds, "Sorry, May, Dawn, and Max." He apologized meekly. "So Brock, Winter, and I will be tiebreakers." Misty pointed out and then stated, "I vote for heading straight to Aparra Village, it's better to get things done with as soon as possible." Brock, however, opposed whilst casting his vote, "As a breeder, I always select the choice I deem most reasonable. I vote for camping."

Now Winter was the only person to not have engaged in the ball; all eyes suddenly shifted to her direction. "Well, Winter, you're the tiebreaker." Misty announced and patiently awaited her decision. Even with this sort of pressure and unsettled disposition, Winter calmly began to weigh her options and contemplate which one seemed acceptable. Eventually she came to a conclusion and blazoned her adjudication, "Sorry, May, Max, and Dawn, I never really found enjoyment in camping so I'm afraid we'll be heading to Aparra Village."

"WHOO! I love you guys!" Ian exploded out of sheer happiness and proceeded jog down the trail further, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!" Just as eager, Ash responded whilst following, "You don't have to tell me twice!"May and Dawn groaned and hung their heads low in defeat as they not-so enthusiastically followed the trail of their best friends.

In a matter of minutes, the group arrived at Aparra Village. The scene was rather interesting to see actually; street lights from both poles and strings hung from building-to-building lit up the entire place. The whole place, obviously built upon a valley that overlooked Ryojima Mountain on the horizon, was bustling with townspeople. Each of the buildings and homes were simple yet at least three stories in height. Some of the buildings that were lower than two stories were fashioned like stands in an open strip mall or mart during a festival. The most interesting factor of all this was the giant stage located directly in the core of this obviously busy place. The building overlooking the stage had a giant screen, but that was all that could be seen at the level the gang was at now.

"..Uh, correct me if I'm wrong," May spoke up, "but aren't places supposed to be less active when nighttime arises, especially in a village?" Aaron looked around the vicinity and replied, "Apparently not here. I wonder what the heck is going on here."

"First of all, where is the Contest Hall?" Ian questioned as he and the rest of his friends navigated across the sea of people. "How about we find the Pokemon Center first of all?" Dawn proposed. "Yeah, getting the Pokemon Center would clear some of this up." Brock stated in agreement. Thankfully enough for the gang, the Pokemon Center was half of a mile from where the entrance to Aparra Village. So, it only took about six minutes before they finally found the building.

Surprisingly, immediately upon entry, the lobby of the Pokemon Center was the same as the usual norm. "Well this seems out of the ordinary." May commented. "Well, let's take a breather before we head back out." Aaron recommended as he went over to the sets in the lobby and sat down. "So, Ian," Brock spoke before sitting down with Misty, "Have you figured out what you're going to do for your contest?" The Lavender Town resident smirked and proudly answered, "Indeed I have. I will be victorious and make that sure another atrocity on my part doesn't occur."

"You mean me beating you?"

"You just _won't _let that go, will you, Dawn?"

The gang started chuckling collectively at the childish and short disagreement between the two coordinators. "But rest assured," Ian articulated after dismissing the small spat, "I will be obtaining my first ribbon of Tenla by the time this is over."

"Wow, Ian," an entirely different voice said from behind the Ghost-type user, "You sound pretty arrogant even though you have no clue who's in the Contest." Everyone looked in the direction of the possessor of the voice and their eyes widened slightly. "Long time no see, huh, guys?" The person was a female with orange hair and dark red eyes. She was wearing a silk carmine tunic, and over the tunic was an embroidered blazer that reaches above her waist line. Lastly, she had a pair of denim straight-leg trousers, platform ankle boots, and a pair of sunglasses resting on her head.

"Zoey?" Ash and Brock exclaimed. "You're here too?" Dawn and May collectively cried out in question, apparently just as surprised. Aaron, Max, and Misty maintained their composure regardless of the circumstance. "…You're right, I had no idea you were here." Ian said blankly. Zoey smiled warmly before asking, "So I see Ian is participating, but what about some of the rest of you?"

Aaron answered, "Well, since we're all going in groups, we agreed to a pact that some of us would sit some Contests so that all of us could get all five ribbons." Zoey replied in question, "So Ian is the only one here without a ribbon?" "Sadly." Ian mumbled. "Well, unless you've improved since our last Contest Battle, you'll _still _be ribbon-less after this." Zoey challenged with a small smirk. Ian matched her smirk, "Well, no one ever said it would be easy, but I've definitely improved." "You sure?" Zoey countered with her smirk widening slightly, "I'm not convinced after that performance at Firguson City. Dawn seems to be the one who improved the most."

Ian snarled menacingly and literally had steam arising from his ears as he heard the cacophonous laughter from his friends. He diverted his attention to the orange-haired Snowpoint City resident and said, "Just you wait until the Contest starts tomorrow. Then we'll see who's laughing." Rather than continue this interesting banter, Zoey blinked in confusion as she said, "What do mean 'tomorrow'? The Contest is today." Now it was Ian and company to blink in confusion. "…I don't get it." A dumbfounded Ash muttered. "I don't either," May stated in agreement, "Isn't it like waaaay too late for a Contest to initiate?"

"Ah, you guys must not have gotten the memo." Zoey uttered before announcing, "Aparra Village is having a special Night Contest. It's going to be held when the clock strikes 9:45 PM and it's happening on an open battlefield!" Brock mused in reply, "So that explains that giant screen and stage we saw when we first entered." "So in other words, we're not getting that much rest tonight." Dawn deadpanned with a lopsided smile. "What time is it now?" Misty asked the orange-haired coordinator. "It's exactly 9:00." Zoey replied, "So, Ian, you better head to the middle of the city right away and register."

Ian stood from his seat, "I'll do just that. Then I can work on my combinations in the meantime!" Dawn stood up as well proclaiming, "I should do the same with mine! Bochick will need to learn how do to Contests eventually!" Brock then spoke up warningly, "Just make sure to watch yourselves in that sea of people!" With that, the group proceeded to exit the establishment and make their way across the eager and numerous citizens still ambulating.

Eventually, the gang managed to arrive at the site of the Aparra Village Pokemon Contest. Like Zoey mentioned before, it completely outside and was fashioned just like it would be in an enclosed Contest stage. Lights from practically every direction adequately illuminated the stage. The stage itself was circular and rather large with a mote of water tracing the circumference. The endpoints of the horizontal diameter of the circular stage were where the stands for coordinators were located. The building looming above the stage possessed the giant screen seen previously. The upside about having this Pokemon Contest in an outside, open-air state was that all of the villagers could either have a front-row seat to the action or simply watch it from the top or elevated porches of their estates.

"Wow, you weren't kidding, Zoey."Ash commented in awe. "I find it actually interesting that there is a contest being held right under the stars and with nature." Brock said in an impressed tone. "And it gives everyone a chance to watch!" Max added in. "All right, time for me to register!" Ian exclaimed eagerly as he started to separate from the group. "Go inside the main building to register, Ian!" Zoey informed. "OK!" He responded.

"Good luck, Ian!" Aaron desiderated for his best friend's success. "Now, Zoey, where can some of us work on your combinations?" Dawn inquired now looking at her rival/mentor after Ian departed to do his business. "Right behind the main building," Zoey answered, "Follow me!" Once again the gang was following closely behind the Snowpoint City resident as she escorted them to back of the main building. Just like the back of a regular Contest Hall, there were practice fields and such so that coordinators could polish their techniques at the last minute. Typically there were also coordinators participating in the upcoming Night Contest training and sparring in this same place. "Here we are." Zoey announced.

"Perfect!" Dawn exclaimed as she took out her Pokeballs. "Come out, Bochick!" She shouted as she hurled out that Pokeball. The red and white mechanism popped open and let loose a white light. The white light changed shape and materialized the Grass-type Tenla starter. Zoey looked Dawn's newest addition to her team interestedly and remarked, "Nice new Bochick, Dawn." Dawn replied appreciatively, "Thanks! Right now, it's time for Bochick to learn about Contests and I'll need all of your help!" May smiled and said considerately, "My Pokemon and I will be glad to!" Zoey added in, "Same here!"

Max, Misty, Ash, Brock, Winter, and Aaron sat themselves on the bench nearest to the practice field occupied by Zoey, May, and Dawn. "They sure enjoy their Pokemon Contests do they?" Misty commented. "If you only knew, Misty," Brock replied, "I know you've had major responsibilities as Cerulean City Gym Leader so you haven't really seen Pokemon Contests in entirety before." Ash added in, "Just wait it gets better as we go on." Misty looked at her two longtime friends and stated, "I don't doubt you two so I guess I'd better prepare myself for a real big surprise."

"First off, let's see what sort of move your Bochick has!" May recommended to Dawn. "Right!" The blue-haired coordinator took out her PokeDex and scanned her Grass-type's statistic. "Bochick knows the following moves," The electronic voice of the handheld Pokemon Encyclopedia spoke, "Peck, Razor Leaf, Swift, and Stun Spore."

"OK!" Dawn exclaimed readily, "Bochick, let's try out a Swift but jump and spin!" The Chick Pokemon blinked owlishly in confusion not doing it command for some reason. "…Oh please, be an obedient Pokemon." Dawn wished, now concerned that she might have to deal with another insubordinate pokemon. "I think Bochick just needs a demonstration." May observed. "Yeah, let's not rush it and make Bochick more comfortable with Pokemon Contests and combinations." Zoey explicated professionally. Then, the orange-haired coordinator took out a Pokeball and hurled it, "So let's begin! Go Maidow!"

The Pokeball opened up and released a Tenla-native Pokemon. The levitating creature was of the same body mass as a Froslass and even slightly resembles it. It has skeletal, black skin. Starting from its "chest" down is a decrepit grey, gown-like dress with darkness flowing from its bottom hem. Its eyes did not have the usual eyeballs or optic nerves but the sockets did possess pink, woeful eyes. The back of the head resembles a droplet of water turned on its side upside-down. Its mouth was fashioned in a zigzag style but its arms had small "sleeves" attached to the underside of its arms.

Aaron let a low whistle escape his mouth at the sight of the new creature before everyone. "Something tells me Ian would be ecstatic to see that." Brock pointed out humorously as his eyes examined Zoey's Pokemon. "A Maidow?" Dawn and May wondered aloud as they took out their respective PokeDexes.

"**Maidow: The Heartbroken Pokemon. Maidow is believed to be the undead, resurrected body of the maiden who was given a Rolorn. A portion of her spirit is probably what gives Maidow vitality."**

(A/N: "Maidow" [May-dough] comes from the words "**mai**den" which describes the fact Maidow is a female-only species and "sha**dow**" to describe its Ghost-type characteristics.)

"So that Maidow is a Ghost- and Psychic-type? Cool!" May remarked with an impressed tone. "Nice new Pokeomon yourself, Zoey!" Dawn commented to her mentor/rival. "Thanks," Zoey responded, "Now let's get down to business!"

"Hey, Dawn, Zoey, I'll think I'll help practice with you!" May proclaimed as she took out her own Pokeball, "Let's go, Mawile!" The brunette tossed it out and the Deciever Pokemon was released onto the ground. "Oh wow," Ash exclaimed, "When did she get a Mawile?" Winter slyly looked at an indifferent Aaron from the corner of her eyes and proposed, "I have a pretty good idea." Misty giggled while Aaron shifted his look to the people beside him wonderingly, "What?" Oh, nothing, nothing." Ash, Misty, Brock, and Winter replied collectively and dismissively.

"Maidow, let's use Will-O-Wisp!" Zoey commanded her Ghost/Psychic-type Pokemon. Maidow raised her arms and summoned blue balls of fires outlining the circumference of a circle. "Now use Ominous Wind." The Heartbroken Pokemon then began to twirl around her spot as a black zephyr was suddenly formed. The Ominous Wind and Will-O-Wisp met each other and created a spiraling blue gale. "Separate and keep it in place with Psychic!" Maidow's pink eyes glowed as her ESP was enthralled. The spiraling blue gale was pulled apart telekinetically into large wind balls, essentially making a modified version of the previous Will-O-Wisp. "Now finish up." With a wave of her arm, the Ghost/Psychic-type broke apart her combination on a molecular level. Blue sparks and sprinkles showered down beautifully after she finished.

"Something tells me that was nothing more than a preview." Ash commented as he gazed at the end of the "performance" pensively. "Well it is Zoey after all." Brock added.

"All right now it's my turn! So watch carefully, Bochick!" May declared excitedly. "Mawile, Rain Dance!" The pure Steel-type pokemon's eyes illuminated a deep blue color, a single storm cloud was produced above head, and a sudden downpour was casted. "Charge Beam!" Mawile opened up its massive set of jaws behind her and fired a thin beam of static electricity into the cloud. As a result, small, non-threatening lightning bolts started crashing down. "Now jump and use a spinning Dark Pulse!" Mawile leaped into the air whilst rotating around; then suddenly dark rings with purple outlines appeared around it. The lightning conducted into the rings from Dark Pulse and, as Mawile spun, the rain and lightning rotated in conjunction with it. The Steel-type continued this action for a couple more seconds before letting Rain Dance, Charge Beam, and Dark Pulse dispersed and sparks of blue, yellow, and black rained down.

Bochick's eyes shimmered in admiration as Mawile landed on the ground. "Now do you get it, Bochick?" Dawn asked and then a positive nod and chirp from the Grass-type. "OK! Let's start out with Swift!" The Twinleaf Town resident commanded. Bochick chirped and discharged yellow stars from its beak and into the sky. "Now Razor Leaf!" The Chick Pokemon spun around and sharp green leaves were released from its mane. The Razor Leaf attack lacerated the stars from Swift causing to explode into radiant stardust. "Not bad." Zoey commented while crossing her arms. "Bochick is going great!" May exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Now let's use another Swift but this time use Peck!" Dawn enjoined. Once again the pure Grass-type fired golden stars from its mouth. Then, it jumped up with its beak now glowing silver and jabbed onto each individual star. Every one of them popped like a balloon and released small traces of stardust. However, the final star did not pop and instead was sent flying away from Peck's force. "Uh-oh!" Dawn exclaimed. "(Did I screw up?)" Bochick screamed in paranoia.

"Absol, Razor Wind!" A voice suddenly commanded. Before the stray star could inadvertently strike an unsuspecting person, a quick sharp blade of wind lacerated through the star. Dawn let a sigh of relief escaped her respiratory system while Bochick managed to calm down, "(OK, good, I didn't mess up.)"

"My, my, you should _really _be more careful with your combinations." A cocky voice criticized as he and his Absol started approaching the scene. May's eyes widened as he instantly recognized the person; Ash and Brock had similar expressions of shock while Aaron maintained a straight face. "Drew?" The Petalburg City resident cried out in shock.

The green-haired LaRousse City resident wore a gray double-pocket vest with a white western woven underneath it and had gray slacks. "That is my name," Drew arrogantly replied as he flipped his hair in his trademark style, "do not wear it out." "Huh…So that's Drew." Aaron muttered dryly. "What his status concerning May and others?" Winter curiously inquired. "He's May's rival from Hoenn." Ash requited. "Ah, so that's the Drew she kept mentioning about." Misty stated.

"I didn't know you were here in Tenla!" May continued to shout in disbelief. "Really, May?" Drew responded in a rather sarcastic tone, "I'd thought you'd know by now _everyone _is swarming in this region." May stuttered, "Y-Yeah, but, I-" Zoey suddenly interrupted by walking toward the rivals and holding up a hand, "Whoa, whoa, time out." Drew looked at the orange-haired coordinator and asked, "Is there anything the problem?" Zoey asserted, "Although I'm all for catching up on good times, we're kinda in the middle of something important."

"Oh you mean Dawn's Bochick?" Drew stated as he flipped his hair, "I hope she's not planning on using it in the Pokemon Contest." Dawn's azure eyes narrowed in contempt but quickly mixed it with a callous grin, "Wow, May, you were right about Drew. He really _is _a butt!"

Zoey, Aaron, and Ash laughed aloud as May and Misty snickered. Drew's pride was dented somewhat, but he did not let that waver his attitude, "We'll see how much of an _butt _I am when I'm in the winner's circle at the Aparra Village Contest." Zoey halted her laughter in order to competitively respond to Drew, "Well, Drew, I'm afraid you're going to have to get through me first." Drew shifted his gaze to the Snowpoint City resident and smirked, "Hm. Shouldn't be too hard since you'll be too dazzled by me to notice." He then, out of nowhere, took a rose and tossed it to Zoey who promptly caught it. "Keep that as a reminder of my words." With that, the LaRousse City resident walked away with his Absol wordlessly following beside him.

At this point, Ash, Brock, Misty, Winter, and Aaron joined the trio of coordinators. "Well he seems quite the charmer…" Misty commented distastefully. "Quite an _arrogant _charmer." Winter added in dryly. "Meh. Talk is cheap, action is what matters." Zoey stated in response. "I'm sure you and Ian will give him a hard time in the Contest." Dawn said as she walked up with Bochick perching itself on her shoulder. "I'm sure we will," Zoey replied but then spoke out in realization, "Oh I almost forgot something."

Everyone quizzically looked at the orange-haired Snowpoint City resident especially when she turned her back to them so that she could face the direction Drew sauntered off. "Hey Drew!" Zoey called out loud enough so the green-haired coordinator could hear. Drew curiously looked over his shoulder to Zoey and raised an eyebrow. Sending a message, Zoey tossed up the rose and commanded her Maidow, "Will-O-Wisp." The Heartbroken Pokemon instantly sent a blue fireball at the red flower causing it singed into a blackened state as it fell lifelessly to the ground. "I don't accept cheap roses!" Zoey declared as she crossed her arms with a wide smirk.

Drew's left optic twitched in agitation as he heard roaring laughter from Ash and company. Absol itself was snickering in amusement until its trainer shot a silencing glare to the Disaster Pokemon. "Come on, we got work to do," Drew impassively announced as he continued walking off, "We'll be having the last laugh when we're victors."

In an alleyway far off the practice fields, James and Meowth used a telescope to view the scenes around the "Contest Hall". "Huh, it's jam-packed." James commented watching the crowds beginning to settle as 9:45 PM was exactly fifteen minutes away. "Kinda makes ya wonder if dey gon' keeping doing dis sort of thing." Meowth stated. "Well it matters not!" Jessie's voice merrily rang from behind them. As usual when Pokemon Contests were the horizon, the redheaded member of Team Rocket opted to be in her Jessalina guise. "It just means more eyes on me when I'm winning my ribbon!" She happily vowed with a sugar-sweet yet cocky smile. _"It also means more eyes to witness an embarrassment…" _James and Meowth thought at the same time.

**-15 Minutes Later-**

"How do you do, Aparra Village?" Cecean's ever-jubilant voice hollered into her mic. From probably all areas of the vicinity, cheers and whistles of elation sounded off into the restless night. "Welcome to a special Open-Air Night Contest! Now don't let the scene change fool you, are rules and regulations still apply as if it was enclosed Pokemon Contest! The first round has Pokemon Coordinators using his or her Pokemon to astound our fabulous judges with graceful combinations, and the second round has a number of Pokemon Coordinators lucky enough to pass on to compete against each other with a time limit and point meter! And speaking of judges, why don't I introduce you all to Mr. Contesta?"

The Pokemon Contest director smiled as he said, "I am honored to enjoy a special day outside to witness some great Pokemon Coordination!"

"Mr. Suziko?"

"Open-air and night contests are remarkable!"

"And Aparra Village's resident Nurse Joy?"

"I'm glad to be out here to judge especially since it doesn't ruin my schedule at all."

"Now that that's over with," Cecean articulated exuberantly into her mic, "how 'bout we kick this Pokemon Contest off with our first contestant, Ian Darusu from Lavender Town!" The light orange-haired MC waved in the direction of the entranceway from the Main Building and onto the field so that everyone could divert their attention to it. From the hung-up curtains (and the door behind them), a figure ran out with an indelible smirk, "I'm about give you all a _real _good scare!"


	21. Smoke and Maidow Part 2

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Smoke and Maidow Part 2**

"_Now that that's over with," Cecean articulated exuberantly into her mic, "how 'bout we kick this Pokemon Contest off with our first contestant, Ian Darusu from Lavender Town!" The light orange-haired MC waved in the direction of the entranceway from the Main Building and onto the field so that everyone could divert their attention to it. From the hung-up curtains (and the door behind them), a figure ran out with an indelible smirk, "I'm about give you all a _real_ good scare!"_

As the MC announced, the Lavender Town resident was the person running onto the field, but unlike last time, his apparel underwent a transformation. His usual black and dark grey attire was replaced with polar opposite colors. His cape was white and flowing like his traveling one and it was attached to the back of his white collar. His white, long-sleeved shirt was completely formal; equipped with buttoned-up cuffs and sea green adornments lined vertically down sea green buttons. His white business pants were fastened together by a sea green leather belt with a white buckle. Lastly, he had formal white shoes. In general, Ian's contest outfit could be described as a sort of "European French Prince".

Ash and company, who literally had front-row seats to the action, looked at the Ghost-type enthusiast with mixed reactions "Dang, when did Ian get that outfit!" Aaron exclaimed in astonishment; he had never seen his best friend wearing something was so formal. "Wow, he actually looks decent." Dawn remarked hugging herself idly. "I think you're just demoralizing it, Dawn," Misty responded as she intently analyzed Ian's outfit, "He looks more than decent." Ash agreed, "You can say that again, Misty!"

"Houndoom! Out here now!" Ian threw out his Pokeball and the Dark Pokemon was released while howling powerfully. "Start off with successive Fire Orbs into the sky but scatter them!" Ian commanded as he pointed an index finger straight to the night sky. The Dark/Fire-type opened its mouth and fired exactly seven spheres of orange flames into the sky all going a separate direction. "Now Odor Sleuth! Detect them all!" Houndoom closed its eyes and relied on its keen sense of smell to locate the Fire Orbs. It smelled the burning scent of fire from all the locations the seven Fire Orbs were shot at. "Hound!" The Dark Pokemon barked to inform its trainer of its success.

"Good! Now use Sludge Bomb on all them!" Ian enjoined. Houndoom raised its head and fired seven rapid balls of sludge from its mouth. Amazingly, all of the Sludge Bombs managed to strike the Fire Orbs and elicited purple and orange sparks that resembled fireworks. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems Ian wants to give out night sky a little color with some fireworks!" Cecean commentated animatedly. "I'm not finished yet!" Ian announced proudly with a grin, "One more Fire Orb and Sludge Bomb! Shoot it directly in the sky linearly!" Houndoom mustered up another Fire Orb and discharged it upwards; the Fire Orb was followed by another Sludge Bomb. "Now Shadow Reign, same place!" Gaseous darkness began to leak from Houndoom's lower jaw upon the command from its master. Then a black and purple missile was unleashed into the sky.

Fire Orb was hit by Sludge Bomb which was hit by Shadow Reign. The result was the same purple and orange firework effect (but to an enhanced degree), and the Shadow Reign allowed for thirteen, gray, slightly arced beams to shoot outward from the center. The beam seems to cover a wide surface area, mostly likely the whole block used for the Aparra Village Contest. Before they could get any closer to land, they dispersed into showers of silver sparks. "The end." Ian proclaimed proudly.

"Incredible!" Cecean exclaimed into her microphone, "Ian's finisher lit up the night sky like a Fourth of July parade!" Mr. Contesta commented interested by the performance, "An extremely useful technique for such an environment." Mr. Suziko typically stated afterwards, "Remarkable!" Nurse Joy finished up the musings, "I especially admired those arcs of beams that acted like an umbrella in the sky. It was truly astounding!"

Ian and Houndoom bowed as the crowd and his friends went wild and turned around so that they could retreat back into the Main Building. "What a way to kick this contest off but we certainly hope something like that keeps up!" Cecean said, "Now let's introduced our next participant, Drew from LaRousse City!"

Drew emerged from behind the curtain wearing a black tuxedo. The left pectoral portion of the tuxedo had a large blood red rose imprint and blood lines, pantomiming vines/roots, stretching out from it to other parts of the tuxedo. The green-haired male had a grin plastered on his face as he took out a Pokeball. "Drew's looking pretty snazzy himself." Brock opined with crossed arms. "That I will give him." Winter said hugging herself. _"OK, time to see if Drew has improved." _May thought reflectively as Drew hurled his Pokeball into the air. "Masquerain, go!"

The device opened up so that the Eyeball Pokemon could appear into air. "Mas!" The Bug/Flying-type squeaked vivaciously. "Masquerain, Water Sport!" Drew commanded. Masquerain produced a blue ball in-between its orange-red antennae. Then, the blue ball released water into the air like a fountain. "Now spin and use Blizzard." The Bug/Flying-type combination contently rotated in mid-air whilst using Water Sport and summoned a howling snowstorm. Instead of directly freezing the water, Masquerain regulated it so that snow was produced. "Spread it out with Silver Wind." The rhombus-shaped wings located at the base of Masquerain's body unleashed gusts of silvery scales.

The Silver Wind slowly increased the surface area of the regulated Water Sport/Blizzard technique until then point fans in close proximity held a pleasantly chilling sensation. "Aw man we just came from someplace cold!" Ash complained as he rubbed his arms. "But it definitely isn't as cold." Max said. "Now finish up." Drew confidently commanded. Masquerain suddenly stopped spinning and used the rest of its performance to jettison the Silver Wind. The snow spread out exponentially and endowed most of the viewers with a small frozen treat. "Drew officially has points for using this technique." Winter contently announced as she gazed at the snows in admiration. "So he still has it…" May stated pensively.

"And Drew sends Aparra Village a little Shiro Town to us and the fans!" Cecean indefatigably commentated. "Very chilling." Mr. Contesta said with a pun. "Icily remarkable!" Mr. Suziko characteristically exclaimed. Drew and Masquerian bowed as the audience cheered and applauded raucously. They returned to the confines of the Main Building. "Don't get cooled off just yet, folks, we're not even warmed up yet!" Cecean yelled into her mic, "Now give a warm welcome to our next contestant, Zoey of Snowpoint City!"

"Zoey's up next!" Dawn squealed eager to see the best rival in action again. "I'm going to be prepared to be amazed then." Aaron said with a smile. "Seeing Drew I wouldn't be surprised if she improved as well." Ash uttered. Zoey came down the entranceway from the curtains. She was wearing an amaranth-colored style suit. The shoulder pads of the suit had a transparent, thin amethyst-colored fabric hanging from the back like a skimpy cape. She also wore amaranth-colored dress pants with an amethyst-colored skimpy tarp of the same material as the cape hanging off the right side of the dress pants. Lastly, she was wearing amethyst-colored boots.

"Lumineon, curtain!" Zoey threw out her Pokeball and it released the Neon Pokemon into the rim of water outlining the battlegrounds. "Aqua Ring!" Lumineon trilled pleasantly as it translucently illuminated. Then glowing azure rings spread throughout the rim of water from each side of Lumineon until a circle of rings graced the inner confines of the water. "Waterfall." These rings one-by-one were suddenly lifted up on a cylindrical column of water. These columns were approximately one hundred feet high and balanced the Aqua Rings perfectly atop their crowns. "Now Safeguard."The pure Water-type pokemon's body illumined majestically again but the magnificent radiance expanded to every inch of the water, including the columns of water. When the Safeguard made it to the rings from Aqua Ring, a bright illumination resembling an aurora occurred.

"Oooooh!" Cecean spoke in amazement, "Now _this _is a light show!" Misty watched the scene with a contented expression, "Ahh, the joys of Water Pokemon."

Aaron remarked, "I will admit, Zoey still impresses me and hopefully others."

Zoey waved her arms to the side as she commanded her Lumineon, "Finish it up!" "Luuuuu!" Lumineon dismissed all of its moves; the columns, aurora, and Aqua Ring dispersed into sparkling airborne multi-colored crystals. "And Zoey dazzles us even more!" Cecean shouted .

"An amazing performance!"

"Absolutely remarkable!"

"The dusk environment makes the performance even better! Excellent work!"

"…I don't think Ian and Drew stand a chance in this contest." Max said conclusively. "Ian, maybe. Drew, not a chance." May stated obviously spiting her arrogant rival.

Ian, from the locker room inside the Main Bulding, watched Zoey bow and recall Lumineon back into its Pokeball and saunter back into the Main Building on the small TV screen located on the wall of the room. "Sheesh, Zoey wasn't kidding." He mumbled.

"Meh, I could've done that." Drew's voice suddenly said.

The black-haired coordinator looked to see the LaRousse City resident approaching him. "Then why didn't you?" Ian countered with a smirk.

"Didn't feel like it." Drew replied while flipping his hair.

"Whatever you say, Drew," Ian stated, "but don't let your pride get hit when I'm on top."

Drew snorted, "Bring it, emo-boy."

"BACK AT YA, QUEER!" Ian snapped back.

* * *

"And now shall we introduce you to our next contestant, Jessalina!" Cecean announced. "My adoring fans are waiting for me!" Jessie skipped down the entranceway whilst taking out her Pokeball, "Arbok, come out!" She tossed it into the air and the Cobra Pokemon was released from it. "Arbok, Haze!" Hissing, the Poison-type exhaled black smoke from its mouth and was eventually surrounded by it. "Now Scary Face!" Suddenly golden, fear-inducing eyes were plastered onto the smoke, instantly striking terror into the hearts of some of the fans.

"YIKE!" Ash exclaimed as he fell to the ground in shock. "…I think my heart just stopped." Brock said uneasily. Winter and Misty hid themselves behind Aaron who was trying to regain his composure. Dawn and Max were currently hugging May out of fright. "Now Glare!" In addition to the sinister golden eyes, red irises with black feral-slit pupils were appeared to further supplement the intimidation. "….I think I just went brain dead for a second." Aaron announced completely petrified in his place. "Because of what-" Ash said getting up from the ground only to see the Glare-Scary Face combination and fall back down in surprise. "PIKA! (ASH, YOU'RE CRUSHING ME!)" Pikachu yelled in distress as its minute body was overwhelmed by its master's mass. Winter fainted and fell upon both May and Max. "Ah! Winter's body is suffocating me!" Max yelled in anguish and his older sister wasn't in better shape either.

Thankfully for everyone, the Haze was dispersed to reveal Arbok's long violet purple coiled around Jessie, symbolizing the end of their rather interesting performance. "O-OK…!" Cecean shakily verbalized obviously affected by Arbok's maneuvers, "I-I'm actually rendered quite speechless but I sure hope our judges aren't!"

Mr. Contesta cleared his throat as he adjusted his collar in order to regain his composure, "The performance definitely utilized Arbok's intimidatory capabilities and the darkened environment around it." Mr. Suziko used a handkerchief to wipe off the perspiration on his forehead as he said, "Frighteningly remarkable." Nurse Joy mustered up her voice so that she could comment, "I-It was so effective that I hope I don't nightmares by the time this contest is over."

"I like that Arbok." Ian declared with an intrigued grin. "Naturally you would," Drew replied disdainfully, "She probably gave a couple people heart attacks." Ian turned to Drew with his grin still on his face and said, "Hell, I give people hearts attack sometimes too. " Drew shot his head to him and exclaimed, "WHAT THE-"

* * *

"Well, let's not let that one performance makes us quit! We still got plenty to get to so let's get this party rolling!" Cecean sprightly announced. The crowd, or rather the all of Aparra Village, exploded into cheers and hollers as the remaining competitors went out and did their performances. All used different arrays of Pokemon and style until eventually the last one did his. "And that's all she wrote for the Appeal Round! Now our judges will deduce the lucky eight coordinators who will move onto the second round, the Battle Round!"

"Tough competition." Ian muttered under his breath. Drew, however, understood what he said and responded mischievously, "What's the matter, emo-boy? Don't like hanging with the big boys?" Ian narrowed his dark grey eyes and rejoined, "I don't think fruity homosexuals count either." Drew growled and threatened, "I'll show you fruity homosexual!"

Zoey suddenly got in between the two male coordinators out of nowhere and pushed them back, "All right, break it up you two! Save it for the Battle Round!" Drew huffed in order to regain his usual façade and flipped his hair, "Gladly, especially when I'm stomping you two." Zoey turned to him and shook her head, "Roses are red, violets are blue, when are you gonna learn that arrogance is askew?" Ian laughed, "She got you on a leash, Drew!" Drew snorted with a roll of his eyes, "Bullcrap."

"Looks like you guys are ready to roll." Ash said as he and his group approached the trio of coordinators. "Why wouldn't we be?" Zoey responded as she turned around to them. "I can tell this is getting interesting real quick." Brock said. "You three will do great, I just know it." Misty stated.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our judges have finally made their decision!" Cecean's voice pronounced over the intercom (inside the Main Building) and the speakers (located outside). Everyone diverted their attention to the small TV (Main Building) and the large screen (outside) in order to see the ones advancing to the second round. "And here are the eight coordinators moving on!" Suddenly the images of eight people appeared on cards on the respective viewing screens. Zoey, Ian, Drew, and Jessie all had 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in the Appeal Round while four other unidentified coordinators got the remaining spots.

"Heh," Ian smirked, "all of us are in. Now the fun really begins." Zoey matched the smirk, "Indeed it does." Cecean spoke again, "And now our randomizer will randomly shuffle our competitors and see you will be facing who!" Then cards displaying the images of the eight people flipped over and were digitally shuffled. When the cards overturned to their original position, they were laying at the roots of a bracket. Zoey, Ian, Drew, and Jessie all each had to face one of the four identified coordinators; Ian would have the first battle while Zoey would have the last.

"Easy wins~!" Ian conceitedly cried out.

"You got right." Drew agreed.

"That is, until I squash you two." Zoey said in response.

"DREAM ON!" Drew and Ian yelled at Sinnoh's #1 Coordinator at the same time.

* * *

The sounds of negative buzzing came from the judges' podiums. The Bibarel combating against Zoey's Maidow was lying motionless and unable to continue before it. "And that's it! With Bibarel no longer able to battle, Zoey and her Maidow will move onto the semifinals!" Cecean announced as Zoey's image, along with a smaller one of Maidow, appeared on the big screen with the word "WINNER" above it in gold print. "Whooo!" Dawn cheered from her place in the audience, "Way to go, Zoey!" Aaron said deductively, "I have a feeling neither Zoey, Ian, nor Drew have shown their true potential. Their opponents weren't that noteworthy as they lacked a proper approach. I'm quite surprised they even lasted as long as they did." Brock shrugged nonchalantly as he stated, "Everyone's a critic, I suppose."

"And believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, that will be a wrap for the quarterfinals!" The bracket appeared once again on the large screen to reveal Ian, Drew, Zoey, and Jessie (as Jessalina of course) as the final four coordinators. Ian and Jessie would be the first coordinators to battle and start off the semifinals. "Heh heh," Ian chuckled slightly, "So it's my turn again, eh?" Drew said, "Just don't lose before I beat you myself." Ian snorted indignantly as he walked off, "Whatever, queer."

"I hope you all are ready for some semifinal action, 'cause I know I am!" Cecean stated through her mic. The crowd cheered raucously, craving to s e the ensuing next round of the contest. "So let's not waste anymore time!" the light orange-haired MC announced, "And our first two coordinators battling will be Jessilina and Ian!" The images of Jessie and Ian appeared on the big screen along with point circles underneath the pictures and a blank time bar between them. Said coordinators were already stationed at their opposites of the battlefield. _"I can't believe my opponent is the emo twerp," _Jessie thought disdainfully, _"I hope he doesn't start cutting himself after I squash him." _Ian sneezed conveniently after Jessie's thought, "Gah…Bless me."

"And with five minutes on the clock," Cecean spoke again as digital numbers appeared on the blank time bar, "we begin!"

"Yanmega, take him out!" Jessie hurled out her Pokeball and the Ogre Darner Pokemon was released from inside. "Yan yan!" The Bug/Flying Pokemon buzzed as it took its place in the air. "Honchkrow, out here now!" Ian threw out his Pokeball and the Big Boss Pokemon was released at the same altitude as Yanmega. "Honchkrow!" The Dark/Flying-type chirped as it prepared itself mentally for the battle.

"Yanmega, Sonicboom!" Jessie commanded. The Ogre Darner obliged its command by sending two small crescent-shaped waves of sharp wind at Honchkrow. "Now Silver Wind!" Yanmega then proceeded to send out a zephyr of silvery powder to supplement the previous Sonicboom; the result was two "comets" with silver "tails" and a white center. "Use Aerial Ace to avoid!" Ian commanded; Honchkrow swiftly flew to its right while leaving sharp tails of wind in order to evade the Silver Wind-Sonicboom combination. The failure to connect caused Jessie's points to lower from 100% to 89%, but Ian's points were reduced from 100% to 83% because of the promising potential from Yanmega's combo.

"My turn," Ian declared and then commanded his Honchkrow, "Fire Night Slash." Both of Honchkrow's black wings illumined a dark violet color and flapped them constantly. After each and every flap, a dark violet slash would be discharged at Yanmega "Ian's using Night Slash as a long-ranged move!" Ash exclaimed. "Nice one!" Aaron commented merrily. "Use your Speed Boost to dodge!" Jessie commanded. Yanmega expeditiously dodged the Night Slashes while flying around as a green blur. "But Jessilina counters back…" Dawn muttered as she watched Ian's point circle go from 83% to 74%.

"Now Quick Attack!" Jessie commanded. While Yanmega was still using its Speed Boost ability, it charged rapidly at Honchkrow and struck six blows in succession, causing Ian's points to drop 2% each connection. "Thunder Wave!" Ian enjoined when Yanmega finished her assault. Honchkrow's black feathers sparkled with electricity and sent them out to the fast Bug/Flying-type. "Sorry, I'm sending that package back!" Jessie stated, "Whirlwind!" Yanmega flapped its four wings hurriedly and made a gust to send back the Thunder Wave to the Big Boss Pokemon, paralyzing the latter instead and causing Ian's point to drop to 55%.

Ian smirked, "Way to make my job easier." Jessie scowled and glared at the dark-haired coordinator, "I beg your pardon?" Ian commanded, "Psycho Shift!" Honchkrow's red eyes suddenly became a rose color as the paralysis from Thunder Wave was telekinetically transferred to Yanmega. "What is this?" Jessie exclaimed in disbelief as her points dropped from 83% to 71%.

"What's Psycho Shift?" Dawn questioned curiously; this was the first time she seen such a move in action. Max answered intelligently, "Psycho Shift is a move that allows the user to transfer their status ailment to a target. Honchkrow was paralyzed by Thunder Wave and then Ian used Psycho Shift to paralyze Yanmega while alleviating itself of it." Brock then added, "For some odd reason, I think Ian was planning for that to happen this whole time." Misty looked at the dark-skinned Pokemon Breeder and inquired, "You really think so, Brock?" Brock answered the best way he could, "Possibly…but then again I'm not a mind reader. Ian could have also improvised with the circumstances. Either way it was proved advantageous."

"Now it's downhill from here on out for you!" Ian smirked and enjoined his Honchkrow, "Night Slash!" Jessie retaliated in frustration, "I'm not going down when I'm already so high up! Ancient Power!" Yanmega summoned exactly eight grey-brown orbs of prehistoric energy and shot them at the Big Boss Pokemon, who was charging with a readied Night Slash. "Slice 'em down to size!" Ian countered. Honchkrow lacerated each and every orb coming its way with Night Slash. Eventually, the threat of Yanmega's Ancient Power was gone as Jessie's points dropped from 71% to 57%.

"Now to fight fire with fire! Aerial Ace!" Ian commanded as Honchkrow charged rapidly at the Ogre Darner Pokemon. "Silver Wind!" Jessie countered in command, but her pokemon could not move as paralysis's effect kicked in. As a result, Honchkrow connected its Aerial Ace. Then, the Dark/Flying-type pivoted around and started off a series of six Aerial Aces. Jessie's points decreased by 3% each strike, making a grand total of 18 percent of her remaining score gone. Jessie huffed, recognizing the previous maneuver as the one Yanmega used with Quick Attack, as said pokemon tiredly backed away to regain her composure, "No one likes a copycat."

Ian retorted as Honchkrow readied itself for continuation, "No one likes a sore loser."

"The tide has shifted as the final 30 seconds of this battle looms over the horizon!" The light orange-haired master of ceremonies announced; the score was currently 55%-39% in favor of Ian. "Yanmega, Sonicboom!" Jessie commanded. "Yan yan!" Yanmega flipped in the air twice and discharged the Sonicboom from her wings. "Combine Thunder Wave with Night Slash!" Ian commanded. Honchkrow's black contour feathers brimmed with static as its wings shined with dark energy. The Dark/Flying combo flapped its wings and sent out two electrically-enhanced dark slashes. This connected against Sonicboom and the resulting produced small yellow fireworks in the middle of the stage. "And Ian brings out more fireworks to please the crowd!" Cecean commentated exuberantly as Jessie's dropped from 39% to 20%.

Jessie growled audibly and defiantly, refusing to believe the battle was over just yet, "Yanmega, Quick Attack! And when I say finish that bird off, I mean it!" Yanmega, with the rest of its might, charged at the stationed airborne Honchkrow while leaving a white blur. Ian smirked with closed eyes as he proclaimed, "The end." On cue, the time ran out and a DING signaled such. Yanmega forced herself to stop Quick Attack; much to its dismay, the Bug/Flying-type had to stop right as it was going to hit a smirking and triumphant Honchrkow. "And the scores being 55-20, it'll be Ian heading to the final stage!" Cecean announced as the crowd exploded in cheers, and Ian and Honchkrow's images appeared on the big screen with the word "WINNER" above them.

"Way to go, Ian!" Aaron cheered from his place in the audience. "That was epic!" Ash added in elatedly. Honchkrow flew down to Ian who gave rewarded it with thankful grooming of its feathers. "You did just as I planned, Honchkrow," Ian remarked positively, "but remember that we're not out of the woods yet. Keep your focus up."

"Honch. (You got nothing to worry about, Ian.)" The Big Boss Pokemon reassured. Jessie slumped to the floor in shame as Yanmega's head drooped with an equal amount of shame. "Jessie started off so strong." James muttered sympathetically. "I guess she got a little too cocky towards da end." Meowth observed.

Jessie and Ian cleared their positions from the stage, the former defeated and latter victorious, so that Cecean could publicize the next semifinal round, "With one of our finalists set, we're going to move on with our next pair of coordinators!" Drew and Zoey replaced the places where Jessie and Ian formerly were; the green-haired coordinator was confident while the orange-haired one was focused. "And they would be Drew of LaRousse City and Zoey of Snowpoint City!" The images of said people appeared on the big screen with two point circles and a time bar still in their same location. "The time of 5 minutes is set and we begin!"

"Now Flygon, let's go!" Drew tossed out his Pokeball and the Mystic Pokemon was released from inside it. "Maidow, curtain!" Zoey tossed out her Pokeball and the Heartbroken Pokemon was released from the device. "Flygon, let's start off with Sandstorm!" Drew commanded. Flygon flapped its left rhombus-shaped wing and summoned a dust storm. "Disrupt it with Psywave!" Zoey commanded. Maidow's pink eyes were replaced with a glowing sapphire as ESP-powered sonar waves emitted from her body. The Psywave did its job in cancelling out Sandstorm and caused Drew's score to descend from 100% to 91%.

Drew, unfazed, flipped his green bangs as he commanded, "Dragon Pulse and then Dragonbreath." Flygon created a light green sphere of draconic energy in front its body. Then, the Ground/Dragon-type exhaled a gust of lavender wind from its mouth. The Dragon Pulse and Dragonbreath combined to create a giant sphere. The sphere was outlined with segmented trails of lavender wind and the inside was filled with light green light. The combination was now heading toward Maidow; Zoey's points also dropped from 100% to 90%.

"Stop it with Psychic!" Zoey commanded as Maidow telekinetically, but with a struggle, prevented the Dragon Pulse-Dragonbreath attack from striking her. "Figured you'd do that." Drew proclaimed with a smirk, "Cut through and hit Maidow with Steel Wing, Flygon!" The sphere was suddenly sliced in half as Flygon swiftly glided toward a surprised Maidow and slammed its glowing wings upon her. "Maidow!" Zoey exclaimed in concern as the Heartbroken Pokemon hit the floor. The Dragon Pulse-Dragonbreath combination dispersed into a slight mist with light green sparkles inside it. "And Drew catches Zoey off guard in order to create a beautiful scene from Flygon's attacks!" Cecean commentated as Zoey's points went from 90% to 75%. "Wow," May spoke, "I didn't give Drew enough credit." Misty stated, "I guess he has skills to back up his claims."

"All right, now it's my turn, Drew!" Zoey declared as Maidow regained her composure, "Will-O-Wisp and Psychic!" Maidow created small blue fire balls around her and used Psychic to send them at Flygon. "Sandstorm!" Drew commanded in retaliation. Flygon flapped its wings and created another Sandstorm in hopes of countering it. "Change up!" Zoey countered. Maidow motioned her arms lithely as the fire balls from Will-O-Wisp suddenly escalated into the sky so that the ground-level Sandstorm wouldn't be able to extinguish them. The failed attempt at a counter causes Drew's points to fall from 90% to 79%. "Now do it!" Zoey commanded again. Like meteors, the Will-O-Wisp was sent straight into Flygon and scored a successful hit. Drew's score once again deceased, from 79% to 65%. "Now get rid of the Sandstorm with Psywave!" Maidow emitted Psywave again in order to attack the remnants of the Sandstorm in play. The Ground-type move dispersed into ground crystals across the stage.

"And Zoey pulls of a series of successful counters in order to leave a huge dent in Drew's score!" Cecean exclaimed as Drew's points fell from 65% to 48%. "Get him, Zoey!" Dawn cheered blithely. "And Zoey's still as ruthless as before." Aaron remarked pensively with his arms crossed.

Drew snarled slightly but quickly calmed himself, "Flygon, take to the skies." The Mystic Pokemon, getting over the blow from Will-O-Wisp, did as it was told and flew high into the night sky. Zoey and Maidow carefully watched. "Perform multiple Dragon Pulses and give them momentum with Steel Wing!" Drew ordered. Flygon produced more light green spheres in close proximity to it and then used Steel Wing to knock them down to Maidow at blazing speeds.

"Ominous Wind!" Maidow spun around gracefully as a black zephyr formed around her to block the Dragon Pulses. "Ah, dear Zoey, you are so predictable." Drew arrogantly stated, "Dragonbreath!" Flygon exhaled another Dragonbreath; as the Dragon Pulses collided against the Ominous Wind, Dragonbreath added to the punishment, somehow ignited all the attacks, and created a dazzling light green explosion. Maidow, having suffered damage, skidded back while panting breathlessly.

"And Drew won't let himself go down without a fight as Zoey is the one now to suffer a dent to her points!" Cecean announced as Zoey's point dropped from 75% to53%. "Crap…" Zoey muttered to herself as Maidow got up once again. "Not out of the woods yet." Drew mumbled, "But nothing I can't handle."

"Maidow, Ominous Wind and Psywave!" Zoey commanded. The Ghost/Psychic-type pokemon twirled around so that Ominous Wind could be produced again and then released a Psywave. The result was a segmented column of darkness that was currently heading toward Flygon. "Fly straight through it!" Drew commanded. Flygon fearlessly dove into the column and started making its way to the source. Zoey smirked, "Thought you would do that." Drew's eyes widened in surprise as the Snowpoint City resident commanded, "Will-O-Wisp!" Maidow matched her trainer's smirk as blue flames were suddenly added to the column. "GET OUT OF THERE, FLYGON!" Drew screamed. "Too late!" Zoey objected. The column suddenly became a black-and-blue inferno as it imploded with Flygon still inside it.

The attack finally settled down to reveal a scorched and exhausted Flygon lying motionless on the ground. Its eyes inside the red-lenses goggles were replaced with swirls. The buzzers on the judges' podiums sounded. "And Zoey pulls off one last combination in order to knock Flygon and Drew out of this competition! And thus she will be the second finalist!" Cecean announced as Zoey and Maidow's pictures appeared on the big screen with the gold-printed words "WINNER" above them.

"You rule, Zoey!" Dawn said cheerfully.

"In your face, Drew!" May stated spitefully to her rival.

"Could you two get any louder?" Max groused with an aggravated expression.

"Man, this sucks…" Drew groaned as he recalled his fallen Flygon. "Oh well, I have plenty of time before the Grand Festival. That's where everything matters." With a calm smirk and a flip of his hair, the LaRousse City resident sauntered off. "You were astounding, Maidow! Now we just got to take care of Ian and we'll win!" Zoey stated encouragingly. The Ghost/Psychic-type nodded and the two also sauntered off in order to prepare for the finals. Ian, who was watching from the locker room inside the Main Building, exhaled sharply and uttered, "Sheesh, me and Honchkrow will have our hands full tonight."

"So are you nervous, Ian?" Aaron asked as he leaned against the wall of the locker room. "Why the hell would I be?" Ian curtly responded. "Well," Dawn spoke matter-of-factly, "You _are _going up against Zoey. She won the next Sinnoh Grand Festival after the one we all participated in, and her Maidow is proven to be quite lethal." Misty responded to Dawn contradictively, "Well, Dawn, I honestly doubt Ian would care about such. Besides, he's a great and viable coordinator himself." Ian stated gratefully, "Thank you, Misty. Glad to know _someone _has my back!" At that point, the Lavender Town resident shot a look to Dawn and May, two of the "non-believers". Brock chuckled sheepishly before adding, "Well…let's not forget you've beaten Zoey before! I mean, as has she, you've improved in your skills!"

"Yeah, Ian, you better make sure you beat her." Drew's voice, in a rather sour tone, suddenly demanded as he walked over in his regular travelling clothes. "You're only saying that cuz she beat you!" May pointed out accusingly. "Who asked you?" Drew countered austerely, "Besides, you're not even apart of the contest, so you get no chance to talk." May pouted while folding her arms, trying to suppress the urge to slap the arrogance out of Drew. "Well, all bias aside…" Aaron spoke up, "Do your best, Ian…Zoey certainly wants to defeat you."

"Just be careful," Drew cautioned, "You saw how Zoey and her Maidow were in my battle, they'll be quite challenging." Winter cajoled, "And let us not forget, your Houndoom was excellent in the Appeal Round, and your Honchkrow was most powerful in your bout against Jessilina. You should do quite well."

Ian grinned and had a confident look on his face, "The end is approaching…I'll make sure _I _come out victorious."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we have finally reached the finals of spectacular Aparra Village Night Contest!" the MC spoke vibrantly into her microphone. "On my left is finalist #1, Ian Darusu from Lavender Town!" Ian's arms were crossed as he maintained an indifferent and focused façade as the crowd favoring him cheered. "And on my right is finalist #2, Zoey from Snowpoint City!" Zoey smiled and wave to the audience as the crowd favoring her cheered.

"Now let us not burn anymore moonlight!" Cecean said as Zoey and Ian's images appeared on the big screen. "Here we go." Ash stated. "This ought to be interesting." Winter commented. "They'll definitely have some difficulty with each other." Brock said. "Here we go," Cecean spoke, "now begin!"

"Now, Maidow, curtain!" Zoey tossed out her Pokeball again; this time, it was wrapped with a Seal Capsule. When the Heartbroken Pokemon was released from the machine, she was accompanied by bright azure stars. "Honchkrow, let's do this thing!" Ian threw out the red and white mechanism that currently held his Honchkrow. Said pokemon was released and materialized from the white light. "Ladies first." Ian announced, gazing guardedly at Maidow.

"If you say so," Zoey replied, "Maidow, Will-O-Wisp! Let it circle around you!" The Heartbroken Pokemon summoned a rim of blue wisps of flames around its body with her being the center. "Now charge with Ominous Wind!" Maidow whipped up a black gale as it charged at the airborne Honchkrow. The Ghost-type move combined with the Fire-type move to create a black fireball that completely surrounded Maidow. "And Zoey kicks things off with an interesting combination of Ominous Wind and Will-O-Wisp!" Cecean commentated as Ian points went from 100% to 90%.

"Honchkrow, charge at a slow pace." Ian calmly commanded. Honchkrow nodded and glided steadily to the fireball-enshrouded Maidow. _"What's he planning?" _Zoey thought guardedly as her red eyes watched the Dark/Flying-type approach her pokemon. "Now! Aerial Ace to swerve upward!" Ian exclaimed. At the last second, Honchkrow dashed upward expeditiously leaving a sharp windy blur.

Zoey gasped in shock as Maidow missed her target; the Ghost/Psychic-type had to deactivate her combination and looked up with equal shock. "Now loop and use Night Slash while still using Aerial Ace!" Honchkrow's black wings were engulfed with a violet sheen as it gracefully performed a loop and dove toward Maidow. A beautiful dark violet light traced where Honchkrow did its loop. "What awe-inspiring aerodynamics from the Dark- and Flying-type Big Boss Pokemon!" the light orange-haired master of ceremonies exclaimed jubilantly into her microphone.

"Watch yourself." Zoey commanded as her points slightly decreased from 100% to 94%. Maidow evaded the Aerial Ace-Night Slash attack perfectly. Ian snarled slightly as Honchkrow turned around after its unsuccessful attempt for a connection and dismissed its techniques. "Psywave and Will-O-Wisp!" Zoey enjoined while sharply pointing at the Big Boss Pokemon with her right index finger. The Heartbroken Pokemon released a PSI-powered sonar wave from her body; then she followed it up with another Will-O-Wisp and deliberately obscured the Psywave with it. The result was a flurry of small but abundant azure sparks (at the cost of Psywave) that was directed toward Honchkrow. "And Zoey's Maidow continues a graceful assault even against Ian's Honchkrow!" commentated the MC.

"Quickly! Use Night Slash at a distance!" Ian ordered as his points descended from 90% to 81%. The Big Boss Pokemon hurriedly flapped its now violet wings in order to release black and purple crescent-shaped waves of darkness. Thankfully enough, the Night Slash managed to lacerate the majority of the flurry before it could reach Honchkrow, thus making it non-threatening. "And Ian counters back!" Cecean said as Zoey's point dropped from 94% to 83%.

"We're on a roll now. Let's keep it up, Honchkrow!" Ian elatedly encouraged. Zoey clicked her tongue pityingly while shaking her head, "You lose your guard way too easily. Psychic and Will-O-Wisp!" The Heartbroken Pokemon summoned more blue wisps of flames and then used Psychic to telekinetically motion them toward Honchkrow.

"I beg to differ, Zoey," Ian replied, "Thunder Wave, shoot it!" Honchkrow extended its wings outward and forward as electricity sparked in the feathers. The electricity was then discharged in the form of light gold arrows. "Alter the direction!" Zoey commanded. Maidow, who was still using Psychic, quickly moved the Will-O-Wisp out of the way to avoid the modified Thunder Wave. Ian's points reduced from 81% to 73% since the intention was Thunder Wave was to nullify Will-O-Wisp.

"Now go!" Zoey commanded in exclamation. Maidow finally was able to land a hit with Will-O-Wisp on Honchkrow; Ian's point once again dropped from 73% to 65%. Too add insult to injury, the Big Boss Pokemon was inflicted with the Burn status ailment. Ian smirked, "Hey, thanks, now I can do this!" Zoey blinked in confusion, but her eyes widened quickly when realization struck her. "Psycho Shift!" Ian commanded. Honchkrow matched its trainer's smirk and transmitted the Burn to Maidow using psychokinetic powers.

Maidow's pink eyes dilated in shock as she felt the Burn transferred to her. A small aura of burning flames surrounded her as some of her health was leeched away. "Maidow!" Zoey exclaimed in concern as her points dropped from 83% to 71%. "Looks like Ian was finally put Zoey and Maidow into his trap!" Cecean stated.

"Even though Zoey may be in the lead," Brock asserted, "they are already evenly matched up."

Aaron cheered on, "Come on, Ian! Turn this around and be triumphant!"

"Aerial Ace!" Ian commanded. Honchkrow then dashed toward Maidow at high speeds. "No you don't! Maidow, use Ominous Wind to waver it!" Zoey enjoined. Maidow clapped her hands thunderously and elicited another Ominous Wind. "Night Slash! Tear your way through and hit Maidow!"

"Hooooonch!" Honchkrow crowed laboriously as it continued to use Aerial Ace while beginning to use Night Slash. The Big Boss Pokemon entered the dark zephyr and proceeded to shred through with Aerial Ace and Night Slash. While it did so, somehow, Honchkrow began to glow a beautiful electric purple color. "What the?" Zoey and Ian simultaneously exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Ash questioned in awe. "It seems to me, ladies and gentlemen, that the Night Slash and Aerial Ace Honchkrow is using against Ominous Wind is causing it to illuminate a different but luminous color!" Cecean explained gleefully. "I think there's more explanation that that…" Winter muttered thoughtfully.

"I think so too, Winter," Brock agreed and began to elucidate wisely, "Although it seems hard to explain, the characteristics of Dark-type Night Slash and the Ghost-type Ominous Wind are forming a sort of bond that is materializing into the occurrence Honchkrow is experiencing; like how opposite ends on a magnet attract. And add that to the way Ian has been using Night Slash throughout the whole Pokemon Contest, you just may have a power-up technique in your arsenal."

"KROW!" The Dark/Flying-type shouted as it finally hit its mark and caused Maidow to be blown back a considerable amount of distance. "And if you add that to Honchkrow's Super Luck ability, you have a stunning appeal and a powerful onslaught all in one!" Cecean screamed in elation as Zoey's points severely dropped from 71% to 57%.

_"…OK, I'm so going to remember this for future contests." _Ian thought conclusively.

_"Man…it amazes what can happen in a contest..." _Zoey thought as she watched her Maidow painstakingly levitate back in the air after suffering the doubly super-effective hit.

"And now there's only 1 minute left on the clock!" Cecean announced, "Let's see how either coordinator will use this time!"

"It's not over yet, so let's do this, Maidow!" Zoey motivated and was rewarded with a positive response from Maidow. "OK! Use Psywave and Ominous Wind!" The Ghost/Psychic-type pokemon rotated her body around so that another black gale could be produced again. Whilst doing so, another Psywave was also released from her body. A segmented column of darkness was the product of the combination.

"Wait," Dawn suddenly articulated, "Isn't that what Zoey used against Drew's Flygon?"

Max responded, "It is!"

"Then that means Zoey is looking to end this right here and now." Misty announced grimly.

Ian's points fell from 65% to 57% consequently. "Here it comes, Honchkrow!" Ian yelled as he waved his arm, "Fly into it!" Honchkrow unfalteringly dashed straight into the column, mimicking what Drew's Flygon did before its defeat. Ash and company collectively gasped. "What's Ian thinking?" May questioned in disbelief. "Zoey can repeat her finisher when she uses Will-O-Wisp!" Ash pointed out worriedly.

"Let's make this one count, Maidow! Will-O-Wisp!" Zoey commanded determinedly. "I won't let you!" Ian challenged intensely, "Prepare yourself, Honchkrow!" The Heartbroken Pokemon summoned Will-O-Wisp and mixed the Fire-type attack with the Psywave-Ominous Wind combination. The column suddenly brightened into an azure tunnel of flames.

"_Now or never, all or nothing!" _Ian thought before commanding, "Honchkrow, Thunder Wave on yourself, then use Psycho Shift to spread it out!" Honchkrow's eyes tightened with resolve as it obeyed its trainer's command; it produced electricity and continued to do so until a vast amount of it surrounded its black and white burly body. Then, the Big Boss Pokemon, with a mighty caw of effort, used Psycho Shift. A majestic field of light pink energy was released, carrying every last volt of Thunder Wave away with it. The fiery tunnel imploded but didn't manufacture the effects Zoey and Maidow expected. The Psycho Shift-Thunder Wave field managed to block it off so that a proper connection against Honchkrow could not be made.

"Finish up!" Ian commanded. On time, Honchkrow dispersed the Psycho Shift-Thunder Wave combination along with Maidow's combination to create a small shower of blue, yellow, and pink sparkles. "Wow, did you see how expertly Ian handled that?" Max surveyed in amazement. "You can say that again!" Aaron responded with a happy smile, "End this game, Ian!"

"The end." Ian smirked victoriously now that his plain was successful. "Not quite." Zoey reassured confidently, "There's still some time left! Maidow, Ominous Wind and Psychic!" The Ghost/Psychic-type pokemon purposely created a weaker gale of darkness and use Psychic to separate them into shuriken-like objects. Ian groused at the slowness of the timer, "Well that makes this anticlimactic a little…Regardless, Honchkrow, use Aerial Ace!"

"Shoot all of them at Honchkrow when it comes!" Zoey commanded. Honchkrow took a deep breath before dashing rapidly to Maidow. The Heartbroken Pokemon delayed herself for brief seconds prior to finally hurling the shuriken to the charging Dark/Flying-type. "Honchkrow, evade!" Ian ordered. "Will-O-Wisp!" Zoey countered. The Ghost/Psychic-type suddenly threw more balls of fire around the thrown shuriken and hit Honchkrow, preventing it from sudden movements. "Oh no!" Ian exclaimed anxiously. "Got you!" Zoey declared self-assuredly, "_Now _it is the end!"

Suddenly, a ding from the big screen sounded, "Time's up!"

Everyone froze up when Cecean announced the end of the round. Honchkrow and Maidow stopped any of their current assaults so that they could descend to the ground, Zoey and Ian instantly snapped their heads to the direction of the screen to see who the victor of the battle was, and the audience waited anxiously for the declaration of the winner of this exciting battle.

"And the winner of the Open-Air Aparra Village Night Contest is…"

Formerly, Ian and Zoey's point circles were at 57 percent before the final attack calls were made. Currently, Zoey's point circle was at 44% while Ian's was at 46%. "Ian Darusu from Lavender Town!" Cecean announced energetically as the images of Honchkrow and Ian appeared on the screen with the gold-border word "WINNER" above them. "YES! I did it!" Ian shouted in pure rapture. "Honchkrow!" The Big Boss Pokemon chirped happily before joining its trainer in the celebration. "Ah, so close…" Zoey said in low tone as Maidow hung her head low in shame. The Snowpoint City resident rubbed the Heartbroken Pokemon's head, "Hey, cheer up. We have plenty of time to work our way up. It's just that the stage belonged to Ian today."

Drew watched the battle from the locker room inside the Main Building with a smile, "Good, Ian beat Zoey. My only regret is that why couldn't I have thought up of that tactic he used against that dark tunnel." Aaron cheered from the sidelines, "Excellent performance, Ian! You rule!" Winter giddily clapped and squealed, "Yes yes! Most impressive!" May smiled, "Well, looks like _everyone _improved. The Grand Festival this year is definitely going to be a hassle." Dawn agreed, "I'll say…"

Pretty soon, Ian was standing face-to-face with the master of ceremonies herself with Honchkrow perched on its shoulders. Zoey, with her Maidow floating beside noiselessly, stood in the background with a content smile on her face. "Ian Darusu of Lavender Town, we kindly present to you the prestigious Aparra Village Ribbon. Congratulations!" Ian smiled as he accepted the forest green and white ribbon, "My compliments. Now I finally have my 1st Tenla Ribbon!" "Honchkrow! Honch!"

Everybody stood up (if they weren't already) and began to applaud the champion of this night's Pokemon Contest. Zoey and Maidow themselves also clapped admiringly as Ian raised the Aparra Village Contest Ribbon into the night sky for the moon to shine down upon.

Now as the Aparra Village Night Contest comes to a close and people can get to bed, Ian's victory now makes it so all the coordinators in the group have acquired their first ribbons. What lies in wake for tomorrow for our heroes? You'll just to have find out, won't you?


	22. Eeveerybody's a Critic

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Eevee-rybody's a Critic**

Typically, the streets of Aparra Village were utterly quiet; many people decided to sleep in today to suppress the wondrous excitement that was present last night. It wasn't until noontime that the streets began to quietly fill up to initiate the normal routine. Our group of heroes wasn't that much of an exception either.

"I don't believe it," Aaron announced he placed his trademark hat over his brown hair, "A morning person like me actually woke up late." Misty giggled slightly as she and him entered the Pokemon Center lobby, "Believe it or not, some of our friends are _still _being lazy." The Metropolis Town resident laughed before humorously asking, "Let me guess. Ash _and _Brock?"

"You guessed it!" Misty exclaimed in blithe and joined Aaron in a small fit of laughter. "Wow, you two seem lively this morning." Ian, who was sitting on the couch with May and Max, commented dryly. The Tomboyish Mermaid looked at the trio and stated, "Well, we're morning people is all." May yawned loudly before she said tiredly, "That's good to know..." Max pushed his glasses back up properly on his face, "Unlike my sister, who requires quote "beauty sleep" unquote to function properly." The brunette resident of Petalburg shot a glare at her younger brother, but its effectiveness wasn't terribly good considering she lacked her required amount of sleep.

"But in my honest opinion," Ian spoke up, "Staying up was worth it." He then raised his recently earned Contest Ribbon amiably and proudly, "Especially after earning this baby." Aaron smiled as he sat on the couch opposite of the one Ian, May, and Max were sitting on with Misty, "You did exceptional, Ian, that's no lie." Misty agreed, "You sure did. Drew and Zoey must be jealous."

"Drew, maybe so. Me, nope." A female voice suddenly said in mock vanity. Everyone present turned to see the redheaded Zoey approaching them in her traveling attire. "Ah, Zoey, what a pleasant surprise." Max said looking over his shoulder at the Snowpoint City resident. "Ah, come now, Zoey." Ian crooned babyishly trying to see if the person he defeated last night would be affected by his taunts, "There's no need to hide it." Zoey shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly, "Hide what? I'm acting accordingly. You simply beat me and I accept it." Ian dropped his front and slumped in disappointment, "Party-pooper."

May and Misty giggled while Aaron and Max had a sweatdrop grace the back of their heads nervously. "Although," Zoey spoke up again as a smirk stretched across her face, "I'm pretty sure I'll be _much_ more prepared by the time the Grand Festival arrives."

"I'm pretty sure I speak for Dawn, Aaron, and May when I say, so will we and just bring it on." Ian said confidently as he challenged Zoey's smirk.

"Now if only Dawn, Winter, Ash, and Brock would wake up already." May said, "I'd like to move on as soon as possible." Zoey, curious as to where the group was going, questioned, "Where are you guys heading after this?" "Oh, to Ryojima Mountain which would take us to Ryojima City." Aaron answered. "So that Aaron, Winter, and Ash could challenge the Gym Leader there." Max added in.

"Oh?" Zoey responded, "So that means you and Ash still challenge Pokemon Gyms, Aaron?" Aaron nodded with a small but proud smile, "You know it." The Snowpoint City resident then stated, "And Winter too, I see. I wasn't aware of that before."

"Well, in addition to challenging Pokemon Gyms, I participate in Pokemon Contests too." The soft voice of the Shiro Town resident entered the cozy air of the Pokemon Center lobby; Winter had entered the lobby along with Dawn. "Good afternoon, sleepy heads." Max teasingly greeted. "Why thank you, Maximillion." Winter greeted back courteously. "Winter, you mind not calling me that?" Max requested trying to suppress an annoyed expression, "I don't like to when people call me by that…"

"Sorry."

"I would have came down earlier, everyone," Dawn announced before turning somewhat sheepish, "but I had a case of bed-hair that needed to be taken care of." Zoey chuckled lightly, "As always." Dawn then added in, "But it was thanks to Winter that I managed to get my hair under control." Winter blushed shyly as she said humbly, "Make nothing about it. I was simply helping you out."

"So everyone was just waiting on us?" The voice of the dark-skinned Pokemon Breeder in training said as he and Ash entered the lobby. "Yeah, you lazy bums." Misty answered playfully. Ash mustered a smile before admitting, "What can I say? I'm a lazy bum at times."

"So, are we now able to leave Aparra Village?" Aaron surveyed as he stood up from his seat. "At last, yes." Ash answered generally, speaking for everyone else present. "So I guess that means I'll see you guys some other time then, huh?" Zoey stated as she watched Ash and company begin to make their exit. "That's right, Zoey." Dawn answered stopping at the exit to the Pokemon Center to grant her rival/mentor one last look. "See you later, Zoey!" Brock, along with the others, waved the orange-haired coordinator goodbye as they collectively went through the doors.

Suddenly, a blur passed by the group as they completely went through the doors, going so fast that it actually forced Ash and company to the ground because of the turbulence. Zoey, spotting this, quickly ran out the door and over to the grounded group, "Guys, you OK?" May responded groggily, "Yeah…more or less." Ian promptly shot back up to his feet and yelled, "What the hell was that?"

After recovering from the shock, Pikachu shifted its look toward wherever the blur was going. "Pika pika!" The Mouse Pokemon exclaimed so that everyone could also look that direction. Ash and company saw a mammalian creature with brown fur, a bushy tail that has a cream-colored tip, and a furry collar that is also cream-colored. The creature was speeding down the trail recklessly, not caring if it was about to run over anymore or harm someone.

"There's our culprit!" Brock announced in exclamation. "Let's get it before it gets too far away!" Zoey recommended before engaging in a full-blown sprint with everyone else. Despite their efforts, the rampant renegade was definitely too fast for them to get into range. "Pikachu, you think you can catch it?" Ash asked his buddy that was on its shoulder, "Pika! (You bet!)" The Electric-type answered seriously as it jumped off and made chase.

Aaron took out a Pokeball of his and threw it, "Scizor, you help Pikachu out!" Brock, Misty, May, Winter, Dawn, and Zoey proceeded to take Aaron's example and send out their own assistants.

"Crobat, you help out too!"

"Staryu, make chase!"

"Glaceon, you know what to do!"

"My Glaceon, follow suit!"

"Pachirisu, go after it!"

"Leafeon, you heard them all!"

All aforementioned Pokemon were released from their red and white confinements. Then, they all dashed, just barely trailing behind Pikachu, after the small brown menace. Unlike their human trainers, the Pokemon were able to catch up to the speedy sport to the point they were in attack range. Winter's Glaceon took the initiative and demanded, "(Hold it, ya pint-sized punk!)" The Fresh Snow Pokemon then discharged an Ice Beam toward the brown creature.

The pint-sized punk, as Winter's Glaceon put it, looked its shoulder in derision, "Eevee. (Just when I thought two were enough.)" With the small speedster now revealed to be an Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon suddenly created multiple copies of itself in a horizontal line. The Ice Beam struck one of the decoys. "(Why that little...)" Leafeon and Winter's Glaceon snarled. "Chipa! (Leave this to me!)" Pachirisu enthusiastically declared before charging up blue electricity in its white and light blue body.

However, before the EleSquirrel Pokemon could perform a Discharge, a graceful figured jumped over all of the pursuant Pokemon. "Hiya! (Look at that!)" Staryu cried out in surprise, prompting everyone else to stop running and look. Eevee, alarmed, turned around fired a Shadow Ball to dissuade the newcomer. However, a glowing metallic tail sliced through the sphere of darkness easily. The Eevee was about to make more tracks and speed off again until a column of dust and sand blocked its way. Another figure was added into the equation as the Sandstorm went away to reveal said creature.

"Sedi. (Nowhere to run now, Eevee.)" The creature that performed Sandstorm pointed out, dangerously leering at the Evolution Pokemon. "I? (Must we go through this every day?)" The other creature that performed Iron Tail asked in irritation. The Normal-type growled obdurately as a response.

Eventually, all of the human trainers and coordinators caught up with their respective pokemon. "Whoa. Look at those two Pokemon!" Ash exclaimed in astonishment as he took out his PokeDex.

"**Ironeon: The Steel Fur Pokemon, and the evolved form of Eevee. Ironeon's fur is a very hard metal that is very difficult the puncture. The scissor-like blades located near its face have been used for ironworking when they are shed off."**

(A/N: "Ironeon" [I-ron-ee-on] is acombination of the two words "iron", to symbolize it being a pure Steel-type, and "eon", the traditional suffix for Eeveelutions.)

"**Sedieon: The Stone Pokemon, and the evolved form of Eevee. The rocks on Sedieon's body protect its soft skin. If these rocks erode or break, they will quickly retreat underground to salvage more."**

(A/N: "Sedieon" [Seh-dee-on] are derived from the words "**sedi**mentary", a description of rocks formed by material deposited by water, wind, or ice to emphasize its pure Rock-type nature, and "eon", the traditional suffix for Eeveelutions.)

Ironeon was a fox-like creature that had smooth, flat, silver fur. Its tail was also silver and possessed a diamond-edged tip. Its paws and eyes were charcoal-colored. Positioned on its head in-between its triangular ears seemed to be a charcoal-colored beret. The "strings" of the beret located on the side of its head below both ears were actually two 8-inch triangular blades of scissors.

Sedieon was a fox-like creature with plant, dog, and cat characteristics. Its body and the thin layer of fur that covers it are colored khaki. A shade of raw umber was colored its paws and eyes. Its ears and tail were dark brown and resemble rocks stacked atop each other.

"But who do they belong to?" Max asked aloud, wondering who owned such interesting pokemon. "Good job, Sedieon and Ironeon!" A male, young voice acknowledged. Eevee was about to run away again until Sedieon and Ironeon jumped in front of it and prevented its final opportunity. A guy with smooth navy blue hair with bangs curved to the side so that his whole forehead was covered, short-sleeved dark lime green T-shirt, and denim jeans with brown boots walked up.

The male immediately noticed Ash and company and their Pokemon and said, "Hello there. The name's Ulrich. Eevee didn't cause you trouble, did it?" After recalling their Pokemon, Ash answered, "Well…it did sorta knock us down back at the Pokemon Center." Ulrich sighed and apologized, "Please accept my sincerest apologies. Eevee has been running away from my dad and I's farm for the longest for the wrong reason."

Brock looked at the Steel-type and Rock-type Eeveelutions watching reckless Eevee like guard dogs. "I see. These must be the two who always are sent to retrieve it." Ulrich answered, "That's right. Once again, I apologize for causing any sort of trouble."

Zoey spoke up, "Hey, no need to be sorry." Misty added in, "We were at the wrong place at the wrong time is all." Ulrich wanted to make it up to Ash and company, so he quickly came up with an idea, "Say, you all are trainers, right? Well, my dad and I's farm is actually an Eevee Farm just outside of Aparra Village. Want to come?"

"Sounds interesting." Aaron replied. "I guess." Ian nonchalantly responded earning him a swift elbow to the ribs by Misty. "Of course we'll go!" The Tomboyish Mermaid happily said to cover up Ian's statement. "By the way, I'm Ash from Pallet Town. And these are my friends Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, Aaron, Ian, Winter, and Zoey." As Ash called out each designation, he pointed to the person who the name belonged to, and he or she waved or said 'hi' or 'hello'.

After that, Ulrich began to guide our heroes through the streets of Aparra Village and toward their destination. Like Ulrich mentioned, the Eevee Farm was just outside the city limit of Aparra Village and, predictably, was styled like a small farm or ranch. That meant the location was rather humble but comely. A medium-sized house was stationed amongst the land.

"This certainly fits the milieu of a village." Brock commented as he examined the small, manicured pasture of the Eevee Farm. "And look at all the Eevee!" Misty stated as her eyes examined the cute, little Normal-types frolicking about, playing with each other, and engaging in different activities that the farm could provide. "Are all of these Eevee yours, Ulrich?" May asked as the navy blue-haired farmer took them behind the house. "No actually. Sedieon and Ironeon are mine. Some others are too." Ulrich answered.

Max's curiosity was piqued and wanted to know something, "Excuse me, Ulrich?"

"Hm?"

"How did you come across Sedieon and Ironeon? They look so powerful." Max asked and was followed by similar statements and remarks by Ash and company, who were obviously also interested.

Ulrich then proceeded to explain, "Well…my Dad and I were rushing home from Ryojima Mountain because of an unexpected rainstorm. Unfortunately, we wound up getting separated because a lightning bolt struck many large and tall trees. As a result, I was lost and sadly getting sick from the cold rain. That is…until two Eevee found me lying weak under a tree. One of them made sure I stayed well while the other went to locate my dad. Eventually, those two Eevee helped us get reunited and guided us safely back home. They've been with us ever since and we couldn't be more thankful."

As Ulrich explained the incident, the images replayed systematically in his mind: Him and his father jogging exhaustedly down the moist pathway with the freezing-cold rain droplets dampening their clothes and their spirits, the giant flashes of lightning that caused the tall trees to collapse dangerously close to them, Ulrich being hopelessly separated while he aimlessly walked down the soaking path of despair to desperately locate his paternal unit, him having to sit under a tree because he was getting somewhat ill, the two Eevee nurturing him and ultimately reuniting him with his father, those same two Eevee effortlessly guiding them safely back to their farm; absolutely everything Ulrich mentioned and more were recollected.

"Ooooh." Max piped in admiringly. "That's usually how most lasting relationships with Pokemon happen." Zoey pointed out. "I can relate." Ash said reminiscing the time Pikachu used Thundershock against the infamous flock of Spearow around the start of their journey. "But the PokeDex tells us Ironeon and Sedieon are evolved forms of Eevee," May brought up wonderingly, "How did that come to be, Ulrich?"

Ulrich kindly answered, "An Eevee can evolve into Sedieon and Ironeon by gaining enough experience by fighting Rock-types and Steel-types respectively." Misty blinked, "Wait, so an Eevee evolves into Sedieon and Ironeon by battling certain types of Pokemon?" Brock rubbed his chin in contemplation as he surmised, "That's an interesting thing indeed, even stranger than Eevee's previously discovered evolutions."

"It is. A Fire Stone, Thunderstone, and Water Stone are needed to evolve Eevee into Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon respectively. An Eevee evolves into Umbreon and Espeon depending on the time of day. And finally Eevee evolves into Leafeon or Glaceon when exposed to the Moss Rock or the Ice Rock in the Sinnoh Region." Max explained mustering up all of his knowledge about the Eeveelutions via lessons and personal experiences, "All of which have been proven why such a phenomenon occurs."

"Then what is the explanation for Sedieon and Ironeon?" Aaron inquired shoving his hands into his pockets, "What do Steel-types and Rock-types have to do with its DNA and general evolutionary pattern?" May proposed, "Maybe it's exposure to both types? Like with the Moss Rock and Ice Rock?"

"That's probably as good of an explanation as it gets," Brock proclaimed, "The true answer may be too vexing or complex for any of us to understand completely…even this goes beyond my knowledge as a Pokemon Breeder."

Ulrich chuckled, "Well, this isn't a trivia game show. No need to strain your brains thinking about some irrelevant right now." The blue-haired Eeveelution trainer's gaze shifted to Dawn and Ian, who had neglected to join in the discussion and opted to mingle with the Eevee, "Like those three, they seem to enjoy the Eevee."

Dawn and Winter were currently watching three Eevee play with a ball, commenting on how absolutely cute they seemed. Ian was assisting two other Eevee pull a prank on an unsuspecting third Eevee. "OK…Now!" Ian informed, anticipating the innocent tertiary Eevee's reaction; both Eevee kicked sand (Sand-Attack) into the posterior of the third Eevee. The latter Normal-type shrieked childishly as it jumped practically three feet into the air. Ian laughed aloud as he awarded the duo of Eevee a high-five.

"Typical Ian and Dawn, huh, guys?" Aaron asked humorously. Zoey giggled, "It's what them what are they."

Suddenly, a group of Eevee creaked merrily from afar; everyone looked to see a certain group of Eevee gesturing heartily to the Eevee apprehended by Sedieon and Ironeon. Said Normal-type maintained an indifferent countenance, but the wilting of both of its ears expressed its antipathy. "Sedi. (Go to your friends.)" Sedieon demanded as it gave Eevee a slight push toward the direction of the posse. "I. (Now.)" Ironeon ordered squinting threateningly. Defeated, Eevee plastered the best jovial expression it could muster onto its face as it trudged toward its group of oblivious but lighthearted playmates.

At this point, Ash and company, besides Brock, went about their own business concerning the Eevee Farm. The Rock-Solid Pokemon Trainer watched Eevee meet up with its company with mixed emotions. The ex-Pewter City Gym Leader then inquired, not removing his sight from Eevee, "Hey, Ulrich? Do you have any clue what's wrong with your Eevee and its behavior?"

"Well," Ulrich started off, "I said before that Eevee the wrong reason."

"Could you explain?" Brock asked, now granting Ulrich a look. "It's hard to explain really…every opportunity it gets, Eevee will rush off the farm and speed off into Aparra Village as quick as it can with little to no regard of anyone in the way. We think it's simply trying to run away. It is odd because Eevee isn't grown enough to leave the farm." Ulrich disclosed to the best of his ability.

"Don't you think Eevee is ready to leave sooner than you think?" Brock suggested before crossing his arms. "I doubt it," Ulrich reassured before glancing at Sedieon and Ironeon, who were with a group consisting of Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, and Leafeon (all of which belonged to Ulrich), "Besides…Sedieon and Ironeon are the ones who truly want to leave."

"Why do you ask that?" Brock queried curiously. "Sedieon and Ironeon have clearly expressed their desire to see new horizons," Ulrich answered, "Every opportunity Dad and I get to leave the farm to go to some far-off place, those two jump up and come with us. I believe the only thing stopping them is their concern for Eevee."

Brock hummed in thought to let the situation at hand sink into his mind for further contemplation. Eventually, the Rock-type specialist stated, "Perhaps you're right…Eevee needs to learn it grow up and prepare itself for reality before it's too late."

While everything was going so smoothly on land, a small unnoticeable metal object peeking just above the surface of the large pond. It seemed to be a visor that would be normally seen on telescopes or horoscopes. Below the surface of the pond was a submarine with its exterior designed to resemble a Magikarp. "Large assortments of Eevee over yonder." Jessie announced as she removed her eyes from the interior visor near her seat in the sub. "What else is dere we can take for da pickin', Jes?" Meowth inquired. "A full chain of Eeveelutions." Jessie announced with a devious smile. "Oooh, that's extra rare!" James exclaimed excitedly.

"We can give dat full house of Eeveelutions to da boss while we keep the scraps and sell 'em for big dough!" Meowth said gleefully. His proposal Jessie and James entirely interested. "Now that's a deal I can sink my teeth into!" James stated pumping an eager arm. "I can't wait to sink my teeth into some delicious gourmet food from all the moo-lah we'll make." Jessie said, daydreaming about the limitless amounts of materialistic goods that fitted her style.

"Den let's get ta work!"

"Aye-aye!"

Ulrich's Vaporeon was currently lounging around at the rim of the pond while it listened to the rest of the gang converse. "Jolt? (So did Eevee break it personal record for fastest velocity?)" Jolteon asked curiously. "I? (Why should we answer that, Jolteon?)" Ironeon curtly responded. "Jolt! (Because I wanna know!)" Jolteon replied. Sedieon playfully sighed before answering Jolteon, "Sedi. (Yes, Jolteon, he did.)"

Espeon snickered, "Espe. (I guess you two requiring help from outsiders prove Eevee's growth.)" Umbreon and Leafeon snickered as well as Ironeon and Sedieon felt a vein pop in their foreheads. "I! (We didn't ask for their help!)" Ironeon resentfully retorted. "Sedi…(They just came out of nowhere…)" Sedieon mumbled crossly as it casually stretched its body. "(If you two say so.)" Glaceon uttered lazily as it lied on the ground.

Flareon, uninterested with the current topic of the conversation, let its jet-black eyes wander about the vicinity. It noticed a strange occurrence in the waters behind Vaporeon. Bubbles popped oddly before suddenly multiplying to the point it seemed unnatural. Then, a huge shadow beginning to emerge from the surface gave it reason to act. "(VAPOREON, GET OUT OF THE WAY!)" Flareon screamed as it discharged golden, plentiful energy from its mouth to the rising object. Surprised, Vaporeon jetted itself away from the pool for Swift to connect, but whatever the entity was, it seemed immune to the attack as suddenly emerged and towered over the Eeveelutions.

Ash, Ulrich, and company were put on high alert when the sudden obstruction to the peace reared its ugly mug. Standing high above the on-guard Eeveelutions was a Magikarp submarine that apparently sprouted metallic, tough limbs to give it anthropomorphic features. "How did that menace get in the farm?" Ulrich exclaimed in question. "I got a pretty good idea…" May answered warily. A familiar trio of laughter was heard from inside the criminal contraption.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double."

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Suddenly, the glass that separated the internal control center from the outside air defogged and revealed two people standing back-to-back. "Jessie!" The redheaded member of Team Rocket said. "James." The periwinkle-haired male said as a rose was held up to his nose. "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" "Surrender now or prepare to fight!" From behind the two, Meowth popped out and landed in front of them, claws unsheathed and paws held in front of him, "Meowth, dat's right!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash, Misty, Brock, Max, Winter, May, and Dawn shouted. "Oh my God, do these people stalk us or something?" Ian complained. Aaron and Zoey remained soundless as they were ready to eliminate the threat as soon as possible. "What are you doing on my farm?" Ulrich interrogated; all of his pokemon, considering their closeness, began to back away cautiously from the towering titan.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jessie responded, "We want the Eevee that roam here." Meowth suddenly went over to the control pad near them and pressed his palm on a big red button, "But first let's bag dose bad boys underneath us!" The mechanical arms with the pincers acting as hands shot out when the pressed button activated their function. Sedieon and Ironeon were instantly caught in them and hoisted into a special imprisonment cartridge of the mech. The reckless Eevee gaped in avid shock; it knew no one else who had the audacity to attempt something of this level of the Steel Fur and Stone Pokemon.

"Ironeon! Sedieon!" Ulrich cried out. "Oh no they didn't!" Ian chastised as he got out a Pokeball. Ash gritted his teeth and turned his head to his strongest pokemon, "Pikachu-"

Ulrich stopped him and everyone else preparing to initiate a command and/or action, "No, guys. The moment seized Sedieon and Ironeon is the moment this fight became personal." Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, Umbreon, Espeon, Glaceon, and Leafeon faced Team Rocket and their menacing machine with hardened expressions. Sedieon and Ironeon rammed the sturdy Plexiglas front wall that confined them with all their might but to no avail.

Eevee, who felt as if it had to save Sedieon and Ironeon, rushed over but was subsequently stopped by Vaporeon. "(No, Eevee. You can't handle this.)" Vaporeon assured standing in the Normal-type's way. "Eevee! (But I want to help save them!)" The Evolution Pokemon argued. Umbreon scoffed with a roll of its crimson eyes, "Umbre. (Funny.) Umbreon. (You do everything else _but _help with the trouble you caused in the past.)" Eevee growled cutely but defiantly; however, it knew Umbreon's words were true.

Jessie eyed Eevee and remarked, "Aw, look. An Eevee with a spine." James followed his partner's gaze and met Eevee as well, "I see. Something you usually don't see every day." Meowth grinned as he suggested inquisitively, "Hey, Jess? Maybe I should catch da Eevee for youse to keep for yourself." Jessie smiled vindictively, "Oh dear Meowth, you know me too well." The talking Scratch Cat Pokemn pressed the red button again. The mechanical arms shot out, grabbed Eevee, and placed it inside the imprisonment in one quick motion. So quick that no one could react and register what happened until after the fact.

"That's it!" Ulrich yelled and then issued out commands to his Pokemon, "Flareon, Heat Wave! Jolteon, Charge Beam! Espeon, Signal Beam! Leafeon, Energy Ball! Vaporeon, Water Pulse! Umbreon, Screech! Glaceon, Ice Shard!"

Flareon opened its mouth and fired a raging mist of thermal energy, Jolteon opened its mouth as well and discharged a thin stream of powerful electricity, Espeon's red gem suddenly had splotches of multiple different colors invade its original redness and shot out a beam of all the mixed-up colors, Leafeon summoned a green sphere of photosynthetic energy and fired it, Vaporeon created a blue orb and slammed in the ground to amass a powerful wave, Umbreon opened its mouth and released a terrible sound wave from the back of throat, and Glaceon created multiple crystal-clear icy shrapnel by condensing some of the water vapor in the air and fired them.

The combination of attacks exploded upon the exterior of Team Rocket's machine, eliciting a good amount of smoke. Outrageously however, once the smoke was clear, the machine was entirely fine even with all of the awesome power supplementing the combined attacks. "Impossible!" Ulrich exclaimed; all of his Pokemon had equal amount of shock. "How did that machine take all of those blows?" Zoey questioned warily, disbelieving that a simple piece of metal and wires could endure an onslaught like that. "It's inexplicable…" Max uttered.

Jessie laughed arrogantly as she answered all of their questions, "Silly twerps and twerpettes! We came prepared before initiating our grand scheme!" Meowth explained, "Our Robo Magikarp was juiced up with armor that makes all Eevee and their Eeveelutions' attacks go kaput!"

Wanting to see the effectiveness of the armor, Ash commanded, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" The Electric-type Pokemon jumped off its trainer's shoulder. "Pika..CHU!" The Mouse Pokemon unleashed approximately 100,000 volts of electricity toward the machine only for it to be useless as well.

"Pikachu's Thunderbolt too?" Misty blurted out, equally stunned as everybody else. James clicked his tongue disapprovingly, "Shouldn't you twerps have realized by now we've been Pika-proof for the longest?"

"And now's it time for us to skedaddle!" Team Rocket proclaimed collectively as the machine robot jumped out of the pond and began running away despite of the metallic bulk it was carrying. "Get back here!" Ulrich demanded as he ran after Team Rocket with his team of Eeveelutions. "You won't get away with this, Team Rocket!" Aaron avowed as he and the rest of the group followed Ulrich.

Sedieon and Ironeon tirelessly continued their attempts in freeing themselves and Eevee. Their effort, however, seemed futile. No matter how many Iron Tails from Ironeon and Rock Smashes from Sedieon were used, neither the Plexiglas nor the metal wavered in the slightest. Panting, Sedieon said, "Sedi…(Man, they must really want us to stay in here.)" Ironeon gritted its teeth defiantly, "I. (Well, they can't have us.)"

Sedieon looked at Eevee, who was intently watching their untiring endeavors, and said to it, "Sedi? (Do you see?) Sedi Sedi. (This is what happens when you're caught off-guard in the real world.)" The Steel Fur Pokemon looked at the bewildered Evolution Pokemon and said also, "I. (Life can throw you all kinds of things, but you're supposed to be prepared for it.) I…(But you get a much worse treatment if you charge at life head-on and recklessly…)" Both the Steel-type and Rock-type then said this last line together, "(Sound familiar, don't it? I bet you don't even know how to save yourself.)"

Eevee blinked incredulously, but its expression turned somber as realization smacked it across its face. Eevee was _never _aware of the dangers that could have happened while it was out running away, nor was it aware of the dangers it could have caused to others. The wake-up call made it realize that Eevee was entirely lucky; lucky that something worse didn't happen to it, lucky that Sedieon and Ironeon would there to catch it, and certainly lucky to have a home to go to.

Suddenly, a glint of internal renewal and determination appeared in Eevee's dark-colored eyes. Ironeon and Sedieon caught this and simultaneously raised a brow. "Eevee? (Hey, Ironeon, you do know Metal Burst right?)" The Evolution Pokemon asked. "I. I? (Yes. What about it?)" The Steel-type Eeveelution answered wondering where this was getting them. "Eevee. (Well, perhaps if Sedieon and I use our attacks on you, your Metal Burst's power will increase to the point we'll be able to break through.)"

Sedieon thought about Eevee's proposition long and hard. Although it seemed effective, it actually put all three of them in danger. Ironeon would need to have suffered an intense amount of damage for a Metal Burst of that caliber to work, and the Metal Burst itself could harm it and Eevee since they were so close to Ironeon.

"Eevee. (Don't worry, I know Protect.) Eevee. (That'll make sure neither of us gets hurt.)" The Normal-type announced with hope welling up in its chest. Ironeon looked at the Stone Pokemon and proclaimed, "I. (I'd rather take a chance at freedom than not have freedom at all.)"

Sedieon finally nodded, seeing no other way, "Sedi! (Right then!) Sedi. (Get ready Ironeon.)"

The Rock-type's outline suddenly became a thin reddish gold and then slammed its body into Ironeon (Rock Smash). The Steel-type endured the shot and stood its ground to let both of them know they can keep at it. Eevee's outline broadened into a whitish color and slammed its body into Ironeon (Take Down). After that, Sedieon and Eevee alternated performing Rock Smash and Take Down on Ironeon.

The Steel-type definitely felt the pain and pressure from the constant pummeling. The fact that Rock Smash was a super-effective Fighting-type move and that it sometimes would lower the Defense stat of a pokemon only made it more unbearable for the Take Down provided by Eevee. Eventually, the pummeling stopped when Ironeon's body became surrounded by a silver aura.

"Sedi! Sedi! (That's enough! Ironeon's Iron Soul ability has activated!)" Sedieon shouted backing up and dismissing the aura produced by Rock Smash. "Eevee? (Iron Soul?)" Eevee asked inquiringly as it backed up to Sedieon. "Sedi. (Iron Soul increases the power of the owner's Steel-type moves when they're down to their last bit of health)" The Rock-type explained.

"I! (I'm ready!)" Ironeon announced heatedly. "Sedi! (Eevee, use your Protect now!)" Sedieon ordered; Eevee nodded and summoned a small green dome around it and Sedieon to assuredly guard them from Ironeon's next course of action. The Steel Fur Pokemon's body suddenly was covered with a metallic white sheen. With the power of Iron Soul and the damage received beforehand, a glorious burst of power was unleashed from Ironeon's body.

Suddenly, a shining blast caused an explosion on a section of the body of Team Rocket's Robo Magikarp. This caused the machine to begin to fall over. "Mayday mayday!" James screamed hysterically as the controls temporarily froze up. "Why is there a mayday?" Jessie questioned just as hysterical. "Cuz dere's been a breach in da containment section!" Meowth answered frenziedly as he held onto the nearest rooted object for dear life.

"What's going on?" Ash shouted in disbelief as he and the rest of the gang stopped running. "What caused that explosion?" Winter wondered aloud as she pensively observed the Robo Magikarp completely hit the ground.

To answer all of the questions, Ironeon, Sedieon, and Eevee ran out of the debris and wreckage as fast as they could and began approaching the humans. "It's Ironeon and Sedieon!" Misty said happily. "And Eevee!" Max added elatedly. "They're OK!" Brock stated grateful that the three creatures survived.

Ulrich kneeled so that both of his knees touched the ground. He welcomed Ironeon, Sedieon, and Eevee into their arms and hugged them with the phantasm promise of never letting go. The rest of Ulrich's Pokemon joined in the manifestation of relief and happiness and got as closer as possible to get a share in the love.

"Eevee…(Ulrich and everybody else…)" Eevee said catching all of the Eeveelutions and their trainer's attention, "Eevee. (Sorry for being a brat, I won't act like that ever again.)" Ulrich petted Eevee's head tenderly as he replied, "You're forgiven; I believe I speak for everyone when I say that." To prove Ulrich correct, each of the Eeveelutions nodded in agreement.

Then, groaning suddenly sounded from the distance. Team Rocket removed themselves from the ruins of their Robo Magikarp. "Time to finish them off!" Ash stated with a smirk, "Pika-"

"Ash." Brock interjected stopping the raven-haired trainer's command, "I think you should let Ulrich handle this." Aaron nodded before saying in agreement, "He's right. After all, Ulrich said it became personal. You'll have plenty more opportunities in the future." Ash unresponsively nodded and signaled the blue-haired farmer to finish off the trio.

Ulrich proceeded to give out his orders, "Ironeon, Flash Cannon!" The Steel Fur Pokemon began to charge a sphere of scratchy but lustrous metallic energy in front of its mouth. "Eevee, Last Resort!" The Evolution Pokemon summoned six objects that resembled stars around it. "And finally. Sedieon, Erosion!" The Stone Pokemon's rocky ears and tail were coated with a dull radiance of brown as energy was being convened in front of its mouth.

"Erosion?" Dawn uttered in confusion, "That's new."

Brock answered intelligently, "Erosion is a long-range Rock-type move that has a chance of lowering your opponent's Defense while raising the user's if the attack hits."

Eevee, Sedieon, and Ironeon released their respective Normal-, Steel-, and Rock-type attacks toward Team Rocket. The power of each attack was further augmented from the momentum required before actually making an explosive impact on Jessie, James, and Meowth.

"All my dreams, ruined because we can't ever get a viable cash cow!" Jessie bawled, ashamed that her dreams of lavishness were tragically cut short.

"I do not see how money got into a proverbial line with a sow…" James mumbled, disappointed that yet another scheme failed and more money was thrown out of their pockets.

"Just be lucky dat da Boss dunno that we're in Telna yet or else we woulda gotten da pow!" Meowth said; the "pow" referring to being potentially kicked out of Giovanni's office after a lecture or, even worse, being kicked out of Team Rocket altogether.

Wobbufet then came out of nowhere and unnecessarily said "Wobbu Wobbuffet!" to finish the traditional departure for these three. "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They yelled as they trailed off in the distance, leaving a white twinkle in the sky to mark where they went out of sight.

Ash, Ulrich, and company later returned to the farm after everything was done and settled down. Ash and company were escorted by Ulrich to the trail that would ultimately lead them out of Aparra Village. "Well, guys, it was interesting having you guys around on my farm." Ulrich said with a smile; Eevee, Sedieon, and Ironeon nodded,

"We're much honored to hear that, Ulrich." Winter replied with her hands behind her back politely. "We're also glad that everything was sorted out with Eevee." Misty articulated. "Yeah, I am too…" Ulrich dreamily muttered.

Brock then brought up, "So now that Eevee has matured to the point to won't run away more…what about Sedieon and Ironeon?" All eyes diverted themselves into the dark-skinned ex-Gym Leader. He continued, "You said it yourself, the only stopping them both from visiting far-off places was Eevee's behavioral problems. Now that they're gone, there's no reason for them to stay."

Ulrich realize that Brock's rationalization was totally correct and accurate. "You're right, Brock, but where are you getting with this?" Ulrich questioned. "Let Sedieon and Ironeon travel with us." Brock recommended, surprising Ulrich and both Eeveelutions a little; Ash and the rest of the company decided to stay quiet and let the breeder work his magic.

Ulrich looked at Sedieon and Ironeon and asked them, "Well? Do you want to?" Sedieon answered, "Sedi…(Well, we _would _to go see new places and such…)" Ironeon then stated, "I? I. (But what about you? We've been through so much together.)" Ulrich, fighting back his tears of joy, responded, "Don't worry about me…if we have separate dreams then we must eventually part so that they can achieved." Then, he squatted down to their level and playfully poked where their hearts would be located, "Besides…I'll always been with you…in your hearts."

Sedieon and Ironeon smiled warmly before granting their soon-to-be former trainer one last hug. Misty, Dawn, and May felt like they were watching their favorite Pokemon Soap Opera; Zoey, Aaron, Max, and Ian smiled; Ash and Winter clapped as they reminisced the times they had a heartfelt moment with their signature pokemon.

"One last question though…" Ulrich said as he stood back up, "Who's taking who?" Brock immediately replied, "I'll take Sedieon. Being a Rock-type trainer, I'll be glad to have it on my team." Aaron said afterwards, "If it's not too much trouble, I will gladly accept Ironeon as a new addition to my team. It's a lovely Steel-type Pokemon I simply must have." Nodding, Ulrich handed Brock and Aaron Sedieon and Ironeon's Pokeballs respectively; said pokemon separated themselves from Eevee and Ulrich and stood beside their new trainers.

"Well, guys," said Zoey as she placed the shades resting on her hand over her eyes, "This is where we part for now." Ian inquired amusingly, "We're too crazy for you to hang around with, aren't we?" Zoey chuckled before replying straightforwardly, "Very much so." Ash and company laughed heartily for a couple of seconds.

"It's alright, Zoey," Dawn stated after the laughter died down, "We'll meet each other again at a contest or something." The Snowpoint City resident nodded as she began walking the opposite direction, "We sure will. Take care, guys! You two, Ulrich!"

"Bye, Zoey!"

"Well, we should head on to Ryojima Mountain." Max suggested pushing up his glasses. "That's what we're about to do." Ash replied as he and the others began walking down the trail. "Bye, everyone!" Ulrich said as he waved solemnly to the departing heroes, "Be good to Sedieon and Ironeon!"

"No need to worry!" Dawn responded waving back to Ulrich. "What she said!" The new owners of Ironeon and Sedieon said also wavering.

"Sedi! (Stay strong, Eevee!)" Sedieon yelled to the Normal-type. "I! (You're in charge now!)" Ironeon added in. "Eevee! (You can bet I'll do my best!)" Eevee replied earnestly.

With two more Pokemon added to the family, our heroes finally leave Aparra Village for their initial objection on reaching Ryojima Mountain. You can bet there'll be more fateful encounters on the way, you'll just to have stayed tuned and see what they are.

**Author Notes**

This is a little life message conveyed in this chapter: For those who are young and rebellious like Eevee formerly was, you should watch yourselves. You never know what life will through at you in you go at it so blindly. So it's best to take the safe route until you've fully matured and are completely ready for life.

On an unrelated note, I literally had to flip a coin for something in this chapter: whether if Brock should get both Sedieon and Ironeon while Aaron got Eevee or if Brock gets Sedieon while Aaron got Ironeon. My reasons for this is that I planned for Aaron to get an Ironeon at some point in this story, and Brock overall deserved one of the Tenla-native Eeveelutions for discussing the matter with Eevee with Ulrich. The latter option was ultimately what fate decided I should go with, so that's what happened.

Anyway read and review if you so desire. Adios and adieu for now!


	23. Specquism's Strings

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Specquism's Strings**

Ash and company had long left Aparra Village and Ryojima Mountain was in plain sight, but a forest would be the last environmental obstacle before the base of the mountain would be encountered.

"Wow, we're making better progress than I initially expected." Aaron commented, referring to how closer they've gotten to Ryojima Mountain within their short amount of time. "Probably because we've gotten so used to traveling over the years that long distance don't seem to be a problem anymore." Brock said.

"If that's the case," Ash spoke up enthusiastically throwing a fist into the sky, "then nothing can stand in our way!" On cue, an ominous raindrop splashed on Ash's nose. "….Was that a raindrop?"

Everyone immediately looked up towards the sky; clouds were beginning to accumulate. "Do _not _tell me we're about to stuck in the rain." Dawn complained, her blue eyes gazing at the soon-to-be rainclouds disbelievingly.

"Ah, well," Max spoke up, "If it does, it can't start right away. So we have time to find shelter! There's absolutely nothing to be alarmed about it!" Like a bad omen, a giant boom of thunder rocked the forest as a heavy downpour followed right after it. Instantly, everything and everyone started to become damp from the rain.

"Max, you suck," Ian berated as he felt his cape become heavier from the water it was absorbing. "Ian, don't talk about my brother that way." May retorted as her brown locks started to droop. "Thank you, May." Max thanked the older Maple, his mood spiraling downward like the rain around him.

"Max, you completely and utterly suck!"

"Forget you too, May…"

"Ah, my hair is getting ruined!" Dawn screamed dejectedly as she put her hands over her blue hair in a desperate attempt to maintain its up-to-standards look. "Get over it, Dawn," Ian responded irately, his mood souring from the rain.

"Hey, Slowpokes!" Misty's voice called out in the distance. May, Max, Ian, and Dawn all looked to see her, in addition to Ash, Brock, Winter, and Aaron, far away from their current position, "If you want to catch colds, then be our guests! We're finding refuge!"

"…How did they get over there so quickly?" Max questioned curiously as Misty, Ash, Brock, Winter, and Aaron created an even bigger gap. Ian articulated exasperatedly, "Perhaps instead of screwing around and talking, they were actually making progress!"

"Well that was smart of them." Dawn said.

"No duh, Sherlock!" Ian yelled in an aggravated tone as he stomped away, following the faraway quartet. "Well let's go join them!" Max recommended anxiously as he jobbed away. May and Dawn followed suit.

Eventually, in the midst of Ash's group's hurries, they came across a beige and brick red mansion in the rainy forest. "Oh thank God, someone's house!" Misty cried out happily as she ran underneath the large porch that shielded them for further torment from the rain.

"Let's hope the owners can tolerate our presences for the night." Aaron said hopefully. "And maybe give us some dinner or something." Ash added in; at this point, Ian's quartet joined up with them under the porch's roof.

Brock stepped forward and genteelly knocked the door. Interestingly enough, the door creaked open eerily upon the impact of Brock's last knock. "It's unlocked…" Brock announced apprehensively. "That's odd." May commented uneasily. "Maybe it's one of those families that usually keep their doors unlocked?" Winter pointed out inquisitively. "If such was the case," Aaron responded with his eyes wandering guardedly, "they would have to have a killer security system."

Nonetheless, Ash and company opted to enter the mansion. Upon entry, they found themselves in a nice and pristine yet abandoned foyer. Their dripping wet clothing and shoes were absorbed by the light silver shag carpet underneath their feet.

"What the? There's no one here?" Max stated disbelievingly. "Not a soul in sight…" Dawn said as her azure eyes examined the foyer pensively.

"I wonder if there's a kitchen here." Ash said as he rambunctiously sprinted off down a hall on the right. "Ash, wait!" Misty called out, "There could someone…here…" Her voice died down when the raven-haired trainer disappeared down the hall, apparently not hearing her one bit. "Off goes Ash, not thinking about what to do." Aaron said shaking his head pityingly. "Yep." Brock agreed with crossed arms.

Believe it or not, the famous Pallet Town resident managed to discover the location of the abandoned mansion's dining room. Quickly, he entered to see if he could locate any sort of sustenance or eatery. Interestingly enough, the long dining table established in the middle of the refectory garnered a small yet satisfactory assortment of food.

Ash's brown eyes shimmered and lit up in joy, "Oh man. I _love _this place!" He shouted blissfully as he situated himself at the table faster than a Linoone going straight; as he ate his heart away, Pikachu could only sweatdrop at one of the many eccentricities its trainer possessed.

The electric mouse's ears perked up when it heard someone else beginning to enter. Pikachu looked over its shoulder to see Ian entering the dining room with his usual yet casual expressionless façade. "So, Ash," the Ghost-type coordinator spoke inquisitively, "Did you find absolutely nothing?"

Ian's question was answered when his dark grey caught the sight of the food currently being inhaled down by Ash. "How'd you find all that?" He exclaimed in question, his eyes widening slightly. Ash turned around in his seat with a chicken leg in his mouth to face Ian. The raven-haired trainer pulled the bone out after swallowing the meat before answering, "It was just here! But I'm not questioning! I'm eating at the moment!"

"Then let me have some!" Ian said as he took a step forward to approach the table. Ash released a snakelike hiss as his eyes hardened malignantly, "Get your own, emo-boy!" Ian's pupils turned slit-feral as he demanded, "You better give me some of that, ya greedy pig!"

Pikachu slumped to the floor in shame as Ash and Ian played tug-of-war for a whole turkey, both fueled by victual avarice.

Max pushed his glasses up by his index finger as he looked around the residual portions of the mansion. "Why would this place be so deserted?" Misty crossed her arms over her chest as she scrutinized the surroundings suspiciously, "I don't know. It's weird…"

"It really is," Aaron remarked as he examined an old, dusty statue, "And it's making me very suspicious." Misty let her arms fall to her side as she replied. "No kidding…

Brock and May decided to see if Ash and Ian managed to find anything of noteworthiness in other parts of the abandoned mansion. The two stepped into the dining room to see Ash and Ian gluttonously harassing the food available for them to consume. May's eyes were slightly wide, finding it unbelievable for two humans to be able to devour things so voraciously. Brock shoot his head as a sweatdrop graced the back of his head, "What savages…"

Dawn, with Piplup in her arms, poked her head inside one of the bathrooms. Her azure eyes steadily roamed about the lavatory, and her face scrunched up in disgust, "Jeez, it doesn't seem like anyone even used this place in a while." The Penguin Pokemon remarked, "Piplup! Pip. (No duh! I think the cobwebs around the seats of the toilet are a good indication.)" The Twinleaf Town resident shot a glare down toward her Water-type, "Shut up, smart-aleck."

Winter stepped inside one of the many bedrooms inside the mansion. Like half of the rest of the place, the bedrooms were old and unused for a quite some time; however, the beds were by no means filthy and grimy. In fact, they seemed comfortable enough to fall asleep in without having bed bugs literally bite you. "Huh. I supposed these bedrooms will suffice." She commented quietly.

The Shiro Town resident turned hurl to leave and inform the others about her discovery. The minute she did, a faint red string was there behind her. Winter blinked her teal eyes, having not seeing the odd string when she entered, and backed up a couple of inches to fully examine the object. "What is that?" Winter mumbled inquiringly as she squinted her teal eyes.

The faintness of the string suddenly disappeared causing a broad red string to be revealed entirely. Slowly and ominously, the string slowly began to lift itself upward; at this point, Winter noticed the string was inside the floor, slipping snugly through a diminutive crack.

Eventually, the string reached its end and phantasmally pulled something out of the floor. Astonishingly, tied at the end of the string by the neck, was a white spirit of the afterlife. Winter's eyes widened to the fullest degree. What was left of her teal irises trembled in fear as she backed away nervously.

" Play…with our master…" The spirit mumbled creepily. Its tone had absolutely no life, fitting considering it was a ghost of a human being. Then, the Shiro Town resident suddenly heard what sounded like old wooden hinges creaking. She looked up to see a small, unsettling entity hovered down from the shadows of the ceiling of the room.

The red string, one of the many located on a steel cross on its back, hanging the spirit was being manipulated by a gloved hand. The creature itself resembled a puppet or marionette with accentations of dull grey and eerie black. Its spherical head cocked lifelessly with an expression similar to that of a jack-o-lantern, but its eye sockets possessed no signs of vitality. On top of its head was a lopsided black "cap".

The same creaking sound was heard again as the left arm of the creature slowly lifted itself up. Dull grey double-helix cranks (which were acting as its arms and legs) produced the unsettling noises in the quiet environment of the bedroom. The cranks were connected to the main body, which was black-grey and rectangular-like, by steel rims.

The hand's fingers twitched causing the red string to reel up the helpless spirit toward the puppet-like creature. The wrists of the hand were connected to a black cylinder acting as the forearm (this feature was also present on the other arm and the shins) outlined by steel rims.

The floating entity opened up its mouth like a wooden compartment and slowly vacuumed the spirit into it. Winter watched the scene and examined the thing in trepidation as she whimpered in fright. After fully consuming the specter, the entity turned its head toward the frightened Winter. Out of nowhere, glowing red and predatory eyes appeared in the eye sockets as it whispered murderously, "Shall we play?"

An ear-shattering scream suddenly destroyed the calm atmosphere of the abandoned mansion.

Everyone inside the building was placed on high-alert, stopping what they were formerly doing. "WINTER!" They all screamed, immediately rushing to where the Shiro Town resident's screams originated from. After a minute of frenzied running around, Ash and company arrived at the site.

"We're here, Winter!" Ash announced as he kicked down the door. His and everyone gasped as they saw Winter standing here, almost like a zombie, with gloomy and soulless dark violet eyes. Her skin was a little grayer than before. Right above her was the odd creature that previously ate a spirit right in front of the transformed Winter.

May's blue eyes widened, "W-Winter..?" Misty and Max lost all of the blood in their faces from shock, mostly at Winter and partly at the frightening hovering above her. "Oh my God…." Ian and Brock muttered in unison, beads of sweat traveling down the sides of their faces.

Ash was shaking uncontrollably, but he managed to get out his Pokedex to see if that odd creature above Winter was a Pokemon or a demon.

**"Specquism: The Ventriloquist Pokemon. Using the many strings on this marionette, Specquism snatches the souls of the pure and innocent and eat them in order to use them as puppets."**

(A/N: Specquism [speck-qwizz-um] is a combination of the words "**spec**trum" and "ventrilo**quism**" to describe its general nature.)

Now it was Ash's turn to pale in color, "Tha-that thing ate Winter?" Aaron absentmindedly backed up, "I think I see why this place is so abandoned now…"

Specquism spoke up, "Your friend wants to play…Want to join her and the rest of her playmates?" On cue, Winter's sclera turned a demonic blood red, and several white spirits manipulated by Specquism phased through the walls of the room.

"That's it! I'm getting the hell out of here!" Ian screamed as he ran away. "Don't you leave me here!" Max and Dawn yelled as they followed the Ghost-type specialists. Everyone else followed suit. As Ash and company fearfully ran down the hall, more spirits phase through the walls, gleaming dangerously at their new escaping prey.

"Here's the exit!" Brock announced as he pulled the door open but immediately screamed in fright. On the other side was Winter again, but this time, she was carrying Grim Reaper-style scythe in hand. "It's time to play…" Winter muttered threateningly, her distorted voice half-high and half-low. "BACK, BACK, BACK!" Aaron screamed as he and the rest ran the opposite way. They also managed to dodge a swing from Winter's scythe.

"So if that wasn't the exit, then what is?" Misty screamed questioningly. "Who knows? We're stuck in this place!" Aaron replied back, looking over his shoulder to see if the possessed Shiro Town resident was chasing them, and she wasn't. "Aw man! We're gonna die in place because a stupid puppet!" Dawn cried out miserably.

"PLAY!" Out of nowhere, some spirits appeared in the way and growled demonically with their crimson eyes glinting.

"PIKACHU, THUNDERBOLT!" Ash commanded, coming to a complete stop. Fueled by heart-pumping terror, Pikachu immediately jumped off Ash's shoulder and delivered a crippling Thunderbolt to the white ghosts. They cringed and disappeared into oblivion moments afterward.

"OK, so what are we going to do exactly?" Ian surveyed, keeping a calm demeanor that if it seemed they were out of harm's way for the time being. "I don't know, Ian!" May said in trepidation. "Firstly, we're going to have to save Winter..somehow." Brock stated pensively. "But too bad Specquism has the legion of the living dead on our tails…" Dawn muttered, trying to give May and herself emotional support.

None of them noticed that the floor beneath them was beginning to distort with darkness.

"Well, we can't just abandon her in this horrible place!" Max articulated. "Max is right." Misty said, "We have to save her somehow." Aaron crossed his arms and mused aloud, "But how is the question…her soul was devoured by that Specquism, and it's using her as a human puppet."

"Then I guess we just perform an exorcism and take back her soul from Specquism." Ian proclaimed. "Now how are we going to be able to do that, Ian?" Max questioned.

The floor suddenly disappeared from under the group's feet, and they instantly were sent plummeting through the stone gorge. "I HATE THIS HOUSE!" Dawn wailed frantically. "Let this be a lesson, ladies and gentlemen!" Aaron screamed, "Don't enter houses with no one in it from now on!"

They all landed harshly on the ground below, which was surprisingly soft. The wall arounds them were gray stones and it was dimly lit. Apparently, this was the underground section of the Abandoned Mansion. Overall, it had the appearance of an ominous dungeon.

"Ow, that was rough…" Ash said in pain as he sat back up.

"Did you all have a nice fall?" Winter asked, scythe hitched on her shoulder. She was positioned currently in front of the recovering group.

Ian answered as he sat up as well, "Not nice enough, Winter-" His dark grey eyes bulged out of their sockets when he realized who asked that question, "Aw crap." The soul-depraved Ice-type specialist grabbed her scythe and swung at them.

Ash and company screamed as they crawled backwards to dodge the first swing, hurried to the feet, and began running down the hall to get as far away from Winter as possible. However, she disappeared in eerie black and purple darkness and reappear right in front of the group. "Now how did she do that?" Max asked rhetorically, cowering behind his scared-to-death older sister.

"You got to snap out of it, Winter! This isn't you!" Misty pleaded. Winter responded by swinging her scythe in Misty's direction. Even though it nowhere close to her, the Tomboyish Mermaid panicked and jumped into Ash's arms. "DON'T KILL ME!" Misty screamed pleadingly. Ash instantly fell back to the ground.

Winter snickered evilly before slowly beginning her advancement toward the group, who began backing up as well. "Everyone...play with us…" She said darkly. "Come on, Winter! Snap out of it!" Brock implored. "That Specquism may have robbed you of your soul, but not your conscience or your will!" Aaron added, "If you can us, fight it!"

Amazingly, Winter stopped walking tortuously toward them. In turn, Ash and company stopped backing away but remained guarded. "Let's not forget about your memory as well." Dawn added in, doing her best to maintain her usual confident tone, "I'm sure you remember all your wonderful Ice-types, your childhood friend, Heather, and all from Shiro Town, r-right?"

"…." The red sclera suddenly disappeared in her eyes, but other than that, nothing else happened to Winter. She did not even move an inch. "Winter, if you can still hear us, is it working?" Aaron asked, taking an initiative by bravely yet cautiously approaching her, "Give us a sign."

Winter responded by abruptly pointing the scythe straight at him, "Not another step." She demanded. Aaron froze up right then and there, blanching considerably. "…T-T….Turn…around…Head the other…way…" Her voice was no longer distorted like a demon, but her actual voice could barely be heard underneath the half-high, half-low octaves. "Pardon?" Aaron squeaked out inquisitively.

"The…the…the..t-tr-true…ex…it…" Winter continued, almost sounding like she was in pain to inform the group of this vital information. "The true exit?" May echoed softly. "Wait, are you telling us to leave without you?" Brock asked outrageously. "That's not happening, Winter!" Ash objected valiantly, "You're coming with us! We're not leaving you with that wretched Specquism!"

Suddenly, the unnatural redness reappeared in her sclera. Winter then laughed shrilly and evilly, breaking the tense quietude in the area and replacing it with terror once more. That moment, Ash and company backed up considerably, feeling like they were going to jump out of their skins again.

Specquism suddenly materialized above Winter, along with more spirits phasing through the walls. "Not much of a choice you have." Specquism said sinisterly, "You can either join us or leave her with me. She belongs to me now."

"Oh you're dead now," Aaron threatened, now appreciating how Specquism thinks Winter is some material possession. He took out one of his Pokeballs and threw it out, "Magnezone, teach that Specquism some respect! Flash Cannon!" The Magnet Area Pokemon was released from the Pokeball, and it discharged a silver, lustrous beam at the Ventriloquist Pokemon.

Shockingly, a trio of spirits dove in front of their manipulator and accepted the Flash Canonn, disintegrating into oblivion and never to be seen again. "You dare attempt a strike at me?" Specquism snarled as its red eyes flashed at the Electric/Steel-type warningly. Then it performed Shadow Sneak, making its body disappear into darkness and reappearing in front of Magnezone, "Then die!" Quickly, the Ghost/Steel-type hit Magnezone with a Focus Punch.

Magnezone hit the stone wall hard, leaving a crater. All three of its eyes were replaced with swirls. "I did NOT expect that." Aaron commented, eyes wider than dinner plates. "Here it comes! Let's go!" Brock cautioned as he began running down to the other end of the hall.

Aaron recalled his fallen Magnezone and followed them. Specquism and his army of spirits pursued them murderously. Winter, however, stayed rooted to her spots. Her sclera fluctuating from unnatural crimson to ordinarory white, "G-G….Guys….?" She said in her normal voice.

Ash and company arrived at what was at the end of the hall. Located at the top of a flight of stairs was a door and all that separated them from it was a somewhat-wide bridge. "Guess she was wasn't lying." Ian said. Before they took another step forward, Specquism appeared in the middle of the bridge as spirits floated about in the dark voids of the room beyond the bridge. "Alright, it's time we settle this, Specquism!" Ash declared, "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!"

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and surrounded itself an aura of glorious golden electricity. Specquism retaliated by allowing one of tis strings to turn black and whipped it toward the charging Electric-type. The Volt Tackle was immediately cancelled out, and Pikachu was inflicted with the damage, hitting the ground hard and with swirls replacing its eyes.

"….This is going to be tougher than I thought." Ash said as he went to pick up Pikachu. "Where's that thing getting its power from?" Max mused aloud. "Well, whatever," Ian said as he took out his Pokeball and threw it out, "For Winter's sake, we must kept fighting it!" Ian's Dusknoir was released onto into battle. The others felt their resolve increasing after hearing Ian and promptly took out their own Pokeballs.

"Transpy!"

"Gouzatile!"

"Toxicroak!"

"Bochick!"

"Blaziken!"

"Ralts!"

"Lucario!"

All aforementioned Pokemon were released side-by-side, Ian's already-released Dusknoir being in the middle of the line. Specquism snarled once more at the sight of more feeble opposition. "This guy is tough, guys," Aaron cautioned, "Let's use our strength in numbers to our advantage."

"Right." Everyone else replied in acknowledgment.

"Now, let the games begin!" Aaron declared and then commanded, "Lucario, Dark Pulse." The Aura Pokemon put its hands together and created a ball of black and purple circles. Then, it fired a beam of circles toward Specquism. The Ventriloquist Pokemon dodged the Dark-type attack by using Shadow Sneak. It sunk into the shadows and reappeared to unleash dark-induced strings for Lucario.

"Ralts, use Teleport to get in front of Lucario and use Safeguard!" Max commanded. Ralts instantaneously appeared right in front of the Aura Pokemon and summoned a light green forcefield to block Specquism's Dark Whip.

"Nice job, Max," May complimented her younger brother, "Now let me show you how it's really done! Blaziken, use Overheat!" Brock followed up, "Toxicroak, use Stone Edge!"

"Blazi…" Blaziken's wrists exploded into flames before releasing a magnificent burst of intense red and yellow flames its mouth, "KEN!" Toxicroak summoned two blue rings around its body. The rings then formed into revolving chunks of grey, sharp stones. Motioning its arms toward the Ghost/Steel-type, the pale stones were sent toward it.

Specquism could sense the potency of the two attacks. As such, it beckoned for more power. Opening its mouth, it pulled faint strings, coming from east and westward directions, and spirits were suddenly forced inside its mouth. After consumption of the poor souls, Specquism duplicated itself through illusionary means (Double Team) to dodge the Overheat and Stone Edge.

"OK, did that thing just eat those souls to get more power?" Ian pointed out with hints of disgust. "I think it did just that…" Brock said as he watched the Specquisms float about threateningly, "But now we have more than one to deal with."

"Lucario, use your Aura to detect the real one." Aaron commanded. Lucario closed its crimson eyes as its aura sensors perked up. In an instant, using Aura, it located the real Specquism amongst the clones. "(There!)" Lucario identified the real one to everyone else by pointing at it.

"Great job, Aaron!" Max remarked. Ian pointed directly at that certain Specquism and commanded, "Dusknoir, Shadow Ball!" Misty followed up, "Transpy, Bubble Beam!" Dusknoir formed a sphere of purple and black darkness in between its hand and fired it toward Specquism. After that, Transpy jumped above Dusknoir and unleashed a barrage of blue bubbles.

Specquism sneered as it forcibly dismisses its clones and raised up its red marionette strings. It lashed out multiple Dark Whips to destroy Dusknoir's Shadow Ball and every single bubble from Transpy's Bubble Beam. Ian growled irritably while Misty commented spitefully, "Lousy, broken, unwanted antique."

"Gouzatile, Flamethrower!" Ash commanded. The Lizard Pokemon opened its mouth and unleashed a ray of flames for the Ghost/Steel-type. Specquism responded by dodging via Shadow Sneak and resurfaced from Gouzatile's shadow. "Oh man! Substitute!" Ash ordered hurriedly. Gouzatile hastily sacrificed a portion of its energy to replace its body with a grayish counterfeit. The doll accepted an oncoming Focus Punch from Specquism, but it faded away because the Focus Punch was highly powerful.

All of the Pokemon owned by Ash and company regrouped uneasily. "OK, so I guess using strength in numbers to our advantage won't work." Aaron stated in a crestfallen tone. "That's because with all its minions roaming around here," Brock explicated, "Specquism can either use them for power or for defense. Specquism itself is also able to put up a fight by itself. We don't have the advantage, _it _does."

Specquism chuckled evilly, "It is about time you mortals realized that. My proposition still stands; leave or join us in our-"

Out of nowhere, a scythe flew over Ash and company's head and struck Specquism in the midst of its speech. The Ghost/Steel-type shrieked in agony as it fell to the ground, a scythe lodged in its head excruciatingly.

May and Dawn felt like fainting right then and there, Misty paled for the third time today, Ash and Max wanted to pee their pants at the rather gruesome assault, Brock and Aaron managed to keep their composure his time, and Ian laughed vindictively, "Hahaha! That shut him up!"

"Give…it back…"

Ash and company turned to see Winter walking past them slowly and undemonstratively, slouched in her stance like a zombie. "W-Winter?" Ash said. "Did you do that?" Brock asked, but the answer was all too clear. That was indeed the possessed Winters' scythe lodged in Specquism's head.

Specquism slowly sat back up to see one of its supposed minions committing an act of treason. Not thinking it heard her, Winter demanded more heatedly, "Give me back my soul!"

Specquism's red eyes disappeared from its eye sockets as its mouth was opened. A pure white astral entity flowed out of its body and into the Shiro Town resident's. At a regular pace, Winter's body reverted back to its natural, human condition. Her teal eyes returned, her teal hair was back in its beautiful condition, and her voice was definitely back to being a soothing snowy zephyr, "Back where I belong…"

"Great to have you back, Winter!" Brock said happily. "You sure showed that little puppet who's boss!" Misty cheered. "Dark and scary yet effective. I would give that performance an A!" May reviewed enthusiastically.

The scythe instantly disappeared from Specquism's head. Feeling suddenly drained of energy, Specquism painstakingly rose back to its feet. "It's not over yet through." Aaron announced, his brown eyes locked on Specquism like a hawk. Winter backed up to where the humans were and threw out a Pokeball to add herself in the fray, "Mamoswine, chill that puppet out."

The Twin Tusk Pokemon was released, adding to the line of ready and powerful Pokemon. Specquism snarled in agitation, its killing intent growing rapidly. The second part of the battle started when the Ventriloquist Pokemon performed Double Team.

Winter commanded, "Mamoswine, Blizzard."

"Bochick, use Razor Leaf after Winter's Mamoswine attacks!"

A sky blue ball appeared in the middle of Mamoswine's tusks. Then, a howling zephyr of snow and ice was unleashed from it. Immediately afterwards, Dawn's Bochick jumped into the air and spun in place. A flurry of green, sharp circular leaves was released from Bochick's mane. The Blizzard Pokemon froze the Razor Leaf, but the Grass-type attack managed to maintain to its sharp. With enough power and quantity, Specquism and its clones were all hit by the Razor Leaf-Blizzard combination.

"Hey, let me get some of that action!" Ian yelled eagerly, "Dusknoir, Fire Punch!" Specquism tried to regain equilibrium after suffering from that combination, but Ian's Dusknoir came out of nowhere and socked it with a flaming fist. "Don't you leave me out of this," Aaron said and then commanded, "Metal Claw!"

"Blaziken, Blaze Kick!"

Both Lucario and Blaziken charged at the Ventriloquist Pokemon. The spikes on the top of Lucario's paws glowed white and instantly grew into three claws. It then jumped toward Specquism and slashed it twice, followed by Blaziken kicking into the air with a flaming leg.

"Gouzatile, Ember!"

"Toxicroak, Stone Edge!"

Gouzatile opened its mouth again and fired multiple wisps of flames. In conjunction, Toxicroak unleashed another Stone Edge for Specquism. The Ghost/Steel-type was battered with both attacks and was leaning of the precipice of defeat. It was truly getting a beatdown, and the spirits around were powerless to help.

Misty declared, "Time to wrap this up. Transpy, Aqua Jet!"

"Ralts, Psychic!"

Ralts released a wave of psionic, blue energy from its body as Transpy's petite body was enveloped by water and jettisoned toward Specquism. The Ghost/Steel-type tied to retaliate, but the Psychic that Ralts released connected and prevented it from moving. It could watch as Tranpsy's Aqua Jet hit square on its body.

Specquism started wailing ghostly as gaseous darkness leaked out of its body. The spirits in the area also wailed as they disappeared into oblivion. Specquism soon followed up as its body dematerialized into darkness and ultimately nothingness. The abandoned mansion was finally free of Specquism and any other unwanted ghosts. The room Ash and company were currently situated in reverted back to just a normal household basement.

"And that's game." Aaron asserted, recalling his Lucario. "To think…one pokemon had the ability to cause all this." Brock said pensively as he recalled Toxicroak back into its Pokeball. "Well, look on the bright side," Winter attempted to perk up the mood, "Specquism's gone, the spirits have returned to their rightful place, I'm saved, and we're all alive."

"Winter's right." Dawn agreed, "We should chalk this up as one of our many accomplishments and get out of here."

Nobody needed to be told twice as they exited the door and the mansion. Unlike when they first entered, it is now serene, sunny, and delightful. "Hey, the rain's gone!" May pointed out, enjoying basking in the heavenly sunrays. "Good, nothing else to get in our way as we head to Ryojima Mountain." Ian said.

"Well, let's start making tracks," Ash stated as he began running, "I don't want to be anywhere near this mansion anymore!"

"I agree with Ash, I'm outta here." Misty said as she followed the Pallet Town resident. Soon after, Brock, Ian, May, Dawn, and Max followed suit. Aaron was going to follow as well until he noticed Winter was gazing the mansion pensively. "What's the matter, Winter?" He asked. The teal-haired female looked at the brunette male and responded, "Well…I guess this has just been a weird experience for me. I won't forget it most likely."

Aaron replied, "Yeah, I understand, but it's over with now…It's just nature's reminder that some pokemon aren't as friendly as the majority."

Winter smiled, "I know, but let's forget about that. Let's catch up to them!" Aaron smiled back as he and Winter caught up with their cluster of friends, leaving behind the mansion and everything that happened it.

**Author Notes**

Finally! Instead of doing simple editing, I managed to upload the next chapter of PS2! Originally, this was supposed to uploaded on Halloween (due to how dark it seems), but complications arose. Odd how it's uploaded near Christmas…

Anyway, the main purpose of this A/N is to notify readers that in Pokemon Story 1 new chapters may be uploaded. In fact, three chapters have already been made (a full battle between in Ash and Aaron at the Sinnoh League mentioned in this story's prologue). That is all.

Adios and adieu! And have a Merry Christmas!


	24. Access DeFried

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Access De-Fried**

"Man, the mountain looks so big compared to when we saw it in Aparra Village," Ash commented, looking up and ahead at Ryojima Mountain. "That's because we are now officially in the vicinity of the mountain base." Brock announced, checking out the map on his Pokegear. "It looks so tall," Dawn said with dread, "It's gonna take forever to scale up there and to Ryojima City."

"On the contrary, Dawn," Max stated looking at his PokeNav, "According to the PokeNav, there are trails so that travelers can get to Ryojima City as quickly and efficiently as possible. We could be there before the end of the day if we can." Dawn smiled, "Well, that's good to know. The sooner we get to the city, the better."

Winter allowed a small teasing smirk to appear on her face, "Only because you want a roof over your head, nature-hater." Dawn shot the Ice-type enthusiast a glare with her blue eyes, "Hush, Winter." Ian and May snickered at Winter's remark, causing Dawn to glare at them too.

Aaron shook his head while smiling at their conversation when, suddenly, one of his Pokeballs popped open and allowed Wormadam to materialize right by its trainer. "Oh, hello there, Wormadam. Nice of you to join us." He greeted. Misty flinched at the appearance of the Bagworm Pokemon, "Th-That icky Bug came out of nowhere!"

"Wormadam isn't icky." Aaron responded, placing his hands on his hips; Wormdam would've stuck her tongue out if possible. "When did you get a Wormadam, Aaron?" Winter asked curiously, having no knowledge of it.

"Ah, right, I never told you." Aaron said, placing a gentle and caring hand on the Bug/Steel-type's head, "After I realized how much Burmy meant to me, I had a change of heart. So I suppose guilt compelled me to go back after Burmy and get it back. To my surprise, when I got there, Burmy had evolved into Wormadam, and she too reconciled with me. Now she's back where she belongs."

"Interesting," Winter said, smiling, "I'm glad to hear that."

Ash and company finally arrived at the base of Ryojima Mountain. There was a large and wide entrance craved into the rocks, and the gang could faintly see the inside and the lamps that kept it alit.

"Here we are." Ian announced, "Time to head inside."

Before they could take another step, suddenly, bursts of flames exploded from the cave entrance of the mountain. "WHOA!" They screamed before dodging by jumping to either side. "OK, that was a bit unprecedented." Aaron commented as Wormadam and Pikachu faced the direction of the attack protectively. "Who's the wise guy?" Ash hissed as he prepared for whatever was coming.

From the cave, a couple of figures floated out. The group mainly consisted of Spife and, in the middle of the menacing group of Wisp Pokemon, was an entirely new creature. Its dark grey and black, legless body was somewhat shaped like an upside-down cone. Two arms with ragged cloth hanging loosely from them outstretched from its body. It had two metal claws. The front side of its body possessed an agape and motionless mouth that covered the majority of its front side. Two eyes socket with dull grey eyes were located above the mouth. In the middle of the top of its body was wick with large, burning flame.

"Whoa, what are those things?" May exclaimed as she and Ash took out their Pokedex. "Ugh. More Spife…" Aaron grumbled underneath his breath, "But that black thing is rather new." After getting the information about Spife, the Pokedexes then gave out data concerning the new Pokemon.

"**Banshar: The Banshee Pokemon, and the evolved form of Spife. Banshar normally appear on Halloween Nights to surround unguarded children with infernos and capture them. The flames on their bodies cannot be extinguished even when immersed in water."**

(A/N: Banshar comes from the words "**bansh**ee" to connect it to its Ghost typing and general base of design, and "ch**ar**coal," which describes its dark-colored appearance and connects it to its part-Fire typing.)

"So those Spifes and that Banshar are connected by an evolutionary chain," Brock said and then assumed, "They must be wild, and we're invading on their turf." Misty argued, "But how can we be invading their territory if this is the way to Ryojima City?"

Pikachu and Wormadam got in front and readied themselves for battle. Banshar looked at the two pokemon and noticed Wormadam. It was initially surprised, but said surprise was replaced with burning anger, "(You again!)" It growled vehemently. Wormadam blinked, "(Me?)" Pikachu also blinked, "Pika? (Her?)" Banshar retorted, "(Yes, her! You're going to pay for blowing me away the last time we met!)"

"OK, what's going on here?" Ian interrogated. "Seems like to me Banshar knows Wormadam somehow." Max said. "How can that be possible?" Dawn asked dubiously.

Aaron shrugged, "Who knows?" He contemplated on the situation a little more. The last wild pokemon he remembered Wormadam defeating was a Spife before the group arrived at Shiro Town. And if Spife was the pre-evolved form of a Banshar…

Aaron's eye dilated with shocking revelation. Wormadam, as if her mind was connected to her trainer's, became enlightened to the situation. "Oh boy./(Not you.)"

The flame atop Banshar's body suddenly went away, only for its large mouth to heat up like an oven or furnace, "(I see you remember me now! I'M SO FLATTERED!)" The Banshee Pokemon discharged a powerful Flamethrower toward Wormadam and Pikachu. Both pokemon knew not to mess with that kind of firepower, so they turned around and began running away.

"RUN!" Aaron shouted as he too ran away. Pretty soon, the Spifes joined in by unleashing Flamethrowers of their own. Ash and company followed Aaron, Wormadam, and Pikachu's example and retreated while dodging the fire. "Man! Out of the frying pan and into the fire!" Aaron yelled, referring to just surviving the Specquism endeavor and now encountering a dangerous reunion with Banshar.

"Emphasis on the 'fire' part!" Winter said as she ran with the others. Another Flamethrower whizzed just above them, causing them to exclaim and accelerate in their escape. "You sons of bitches! That almost hit us!" Ian barked at the Spifes and Banshar, shaking a fist in their direction. The group of Ghost/Fire-types responded by unleashing Shadow Balls simultaneously.

Ash and company screamed and ran ever faster, the Shadow Balls hitting the ground they just stepped and causing a dusty explosion. When the dust settled, they were gone and left heartlessly snickering Spifes and Banshar behind them.

"(They'll have to go through me if they want to go further.)" Banshar vowed darkly.

* * *

"All right, now before we forget, let's call the boss and let him know we've reached the Tenla Region." Jessie recommended to her two male partners, who curtly nodded. Meowth removed a rectangular device with a screen from their utility bag and pressed on one of the two grey buttons on it.

Almost instantly, Giovanni, the boss of Team Rocket and former Gym Leader of Viridian City, appeared on the screen. He asked somewhat irritably, "What could you possibly want? I'm in the middle of something."

"G-Greetings, boss, sir!" Jessie greeted uneasily, "This is Jessie, James, and Meowth reporting to inform you that we three are now located in the Tenla Region."

Oddly, the minute Jessie mentioned the Tenla Region, Giovanni snapped disbelievingly, "Wait a minute! Do you just say Tenla Region?" James blinked, "Um, yes, sir?" Giovanni sternly ordered in response, "Listen, Jessie, James, and Meowth. Since you three are the first to report of Team Rocket's presence in Tenla, it is imperative that you notify me of any activity in that region that I should be aware of. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir!" Jessie, James, and Meowth replied simultaneously while saluting.

"Excellent," Giovanni replied, "Giovanni out." With that, the boss of Team Rocket hung up.

"Dis is like a dream come true!" Meowth said elatedly, "Now dat we're da the first ones on da scene in Tenla, we have ourselves on opportunity to become big shots!"

"Oh man that was a close call!" Before Team Rocket could become entirely engrossed in their recent achievements, they heard familiar voices over the bushes and rocks. Nosy, they peeked over to see Ash and his group standing in the trail that led them to the Ryojima Mountain base, panting heavily. "It's the twerps." James said. "Hm. They seem like they just finished with a marathon." Jessie observed.

"Honestly, what was all that about?" Ian groused.

"I know, right?" Dawn fretted, "The nerve of wild Pokemon these days!" Max looked at Aaron and said, "That Banshar seemed to have known about your Wormadam." When Max said that, all eyes diverted to the Steel-type specialist. "That was a rather weird altercation." Brock stated.

Aaron sighed before explaining, "Based on what Banshar said, I have reason to be it is actually a Spife Wormadam and I encountered recently; back when you guys first met her as a Burmy. My Empoleon attacked a Spife that was attacking her. Then Burmy evolved into Wormadam and sent that Spife flying off."

"So it's more than likely that Banshar is actually the Spife." May surmised. "Guess so." Aaron said, nodding his head. "Well, it doesn't matter who Banshar has a grudge with!" Ash articulated, "We need to get by, and we'll just have to send it blasting away again!"

"I'm with Ash." Ian stated, "The thing almost turned us into grilled kabobs. I want retribution."

"But let's not forget," Misty piped in, "Banshar has help: those Spifes." Aaron then suggested, "Then how about this? Some of us focus on the Spife, and the rest focus on Banshar?" Brock concurred, "Worth a shot." Ash turned back to the road they had just run off from with eyes of renewed determination, "Then let's get ready to fight fire with fire!" With that, Ash and company resumed going back on their path, this time aware of the dangers ahead.

* * *

Jessie, James, and Meowth turned to each other with knowing grins. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jessie asked. "A dastardly alliance with Banshar and the Spife to use them against the twerps," James spoke, "And with the perfect incentive; giving them the chance to turn that Wormadam into a smoldering ember." Meowth grinned, "An' we all know dat Team Rocket is da the best at smooth-talkin'! Dat's an offer dey can't refuse!"

Swiftly, the trio moved from their hiding spot and back to the Ryojima Mountain base in record time in order to beat Ash and company there first. Knowing full-well that the Ghost/Fire-types were there, they stepped right in the open. "Alright, you undead candlesticks," James called out, "You have new bystanders trudging on your turf!"

Instantly, the Spifes flew out of the cavern and spew out Flamethrowers to Team Rocket. "OK, Wobbufett!" Jessie commanded, "Be a dear and use Mirror Coat!" The Psychic-type Pokemon popped out of nowhere as its blue body gained a wavy, apricot-colored aura. The Flamethrowers released by the Spifes were redirected toward them and instantly knocked them out.

"(Alright, what's going on here?)" Banshar questioned cantankerously as it revealed itself to Team Rocket. "Now, now dere, Banshar!" Meowth said while stepping up to initiate the negotiations, "Me, Jessie, and James are here ta offer ya somethin'!"

Banshar's flame glinted guardedness but responded, "(That would be?)"

"Dere comes in a Pokemon's life where he encounters-"

"(She.)" Banshar corrected, confirming her gender.

Meowth cleared his throat professionally, "She. My apologies, miss. Anyways, dere comes in a Pokemon's life where she encounters someone that jus' REALLY grinds her gears. And my crew and I know for a fact dat de object of your vendetta happens to be a certain Wormadam."

"(How did you know that?)" Banshar gasped, "(Better yet, of what importance is that to you three?)" Meowth continued with a smirk, "Simple, my dear Banshar! Ever heard of the concept 'an eye of an eye?' Well, we simply require your help in nabbing the Pikachu that accompanied the Wormadam. And we'll help you enact your revenge on dat Wormadam. Is dat a deal?"

Banshar agreed without a second thought, "(Deal.)"

* * *

Ash and company finished their short walk back to the Ryojima Mountain Base, ready and waiting for the ambush by Banshar and the Spifes. They even had their desired Pokemon already out for the battle: Ash had Pikachu, Aaron had Wormadam, Ian had Spiritomb, Misty had Azumarril, Brock had Swampert, May had Glaceon, Max had Ralts, Dawn had Pachirisu, and Winter had Cloyster.

"Tomb? (Alright, where are those little dead Pokemon walking?)" Ian's Spiritomb questioned darkly, wanting to finish this in an instant. "Stay calm, Spiritomb," Ian told his partner, "You'll get a chance in due time."

"Listen! Is that a promise I hear?"

"Seems like a challenge for those that reside here."

"On the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"In your ear!"

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!"

"Team Rocket,"

"Is here!"

"In your face!"

Team Rocket had made their unexpected entrance, and they currently positioned right in front of the entrance into mountain. Throughout the course of the Sinnoh Region motto, they had come out of the darkness of the cavern. They also had released the Pokemon they were sending into the fray: Jessie had Seviper and Arbok, and James had Weezing and Carnivine.

"Haven't seen those three in some time…" Winter mumbled softly, recalling the time she had to save Ash and Pikachu from them. "Cloyster. (I doubt they're going to be any fun.)" Winter's Cloyster commented, frowning.

"You guys have quite the talent for appearing in situations where you are not called for." Aaron stated austerely. "Why thank you, twerp!" Jessie responded while smirking, "It's one of the many great talents we as Team Rocket have in our repertoire." Dawn deadpanned, "I don't think Aaron meant that as a compliment…"

"Well, whatever, Team Rocket," Ash spoke, "Since you guys haven't been barbecued by the Spifes, getting you guys out of the way will allow us to go with our journey!" James chuckled as he held a finger and wagged it, "I'm afraid that's where you are wrong."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Misty interrogated. All of Ash and company's Pokemon were put on high-alert at that moment. "Let's just say we got friends on da other side!" Meowth replied. On cue, the Spifes and their leading Banshar appeared around Team Rocket, outnumbering Ash and company.

"See, this is one of the times where I hate the term 'strength in numbers.'" Aaron groused. "Now just why are the Spifes and Banshar on you crooks' side?" May interrogated heatedly.

Jessie smirked, "Wouldn't all like to know." She then issued the first command of the battle, "Arbok, Sludge Bomb! Seviper, Poison Tail!" Both Poison-type snakes charged at their opponents. Arbok opened its mouth and unleashed a volley of poisonous balls while Seviper continued to charge with its blade-edged tail glowing purple.

"I'll take care of that!" Brock volunteered as he pointed forward. "Swampert, Mud Shot!" Brock's Swampert opened its mouth and fired a stream of dark brown mud from it. "Dodge!" Jessie commanded. Seviper managed to evade the Mud Shot, but at the expense of Arbok's Sludge Bombs being cancelled out by it.

"Cloyster, intercept Seviper's Poison Tail and use Clamp!" Winter commanded. The Bivalve Pokemon appeared in front of Swampert and, with precise timing, closed its shell and caught Seviper's Poison Tail-induced blade in a vice. "Now Hydro Pump!" Cloyster's shell abruptly opened up only to blast the Poison Snake Pokemon with a powerful gush of water.

"Swamp! (Nice shot!)" Swampert commented with a smirk. Cloyster chuckled, "Cloy. (Many thanks.)" Then, the Spifes finally acted by sending Shadow Balls toward Cloyster and Swampert. Winter and Brock caught that and commanded their respective Pokemon, "Swampert, Protect!/Cloyster, Barrier!" Swampter crossed its arms over its face and summoned a green, dome-shaped shield while Cloyster summoned a purple glass forcefield. These defensive measures made sure the Shadow Balls would not damage them whatsoever.

"OK, guys! Let's stick to the plan!" Dawn said as the rest of the Pokemon joined in the fray. "You got it!" The others responded collectively, ready to settle this. Dawn, Max, and May were going to handle the Spifes; Ash, Brock, and Misty were going for Team Rocket; and that left Aaron, Winter, and Ian with Banshar.

The Spifes, zeroing in on their new targets, unleashed Flamethrowers simultaneously for Max's Ralts, May's Glaceon, and Dawn's Pachirisu.

"Safeguard!"

"Mirror Coat!"

Glaceon's icy coat illuminated as a pink, sparkling aura covered it; Ralts raised its stubby arms and created a light green forcefield. The Flamethrowers impacted against the two defensive moves. Safeguard simply blocked them while Mirror Coat redirected Flamethrowers back to the Spifes that launched them.

"OK! Pachirisu, time to use Discharge!"

The EleSquirrel Pokemon jumped gracefully over Glaceon and Ralts and released blue static electricity from its white and light blue body. The Spifes were shocked by Discharge and wailed in pain.

"Carnivine, Bullet Seed!" James commanded. "Carnivine!" The Bug Catcher Pokemon opened its huge mouth and firing a barrage of glowing green seeds at Pikachu, Swampert, and Azumarril. "Azumarril, counter with Aqua Tail!" Misty retaliated. The blue ball at the tip of the Aqua Mouse Pokemon's tail illuminated a bright blue, then it swung its tail to release a powerful wave toward Carnivine's Bullet Seed, which was instantly negated.

"No you don't! Arbok, Iron Tail!" Jessie commanded. Arbok advanced forward as its purple tail hardened, signaled by a glowing silver light. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail too!" Ash enjoined in response. Pikachu charged at the attacking Arbok as its zigzag-shaped tail too glowed silver. Both creatures their hardened tails at each other and clashed. "Keep at it!" Ash urged. Suddenly, Pikachu rotated its body counterclockwise and smacked away Arbok's tail. Then, it rotated counterclockwise again in order to strike the Poison-type's face.

"Weezing, Poison Gas!"

"Seviper, Haze!"

Both Poison-types attacked quickly; Seviper opened its mouth and released black smoke, and Weezing released greenish smog. Both gassy attacks surrounded the battlefield, taking away sight from Ash and company and their poekmon.

"H-Hey!" Ian exclaimed. "Who polluted the area?" May shouted in question, putting her hand over her mouth. "We're busy over here!" Dawn added in agitation. Brock gritted his teeth before commanding, "Swampert, try to detect where your opponents are!"

Right when Swampert was getting ready to detect the whereabouts of its enemies using its radar, Jessie said, "Don't think so! Arbok, use Scary Face!" Out of nowhere, golden, leering eyes were appeared in the smoke. Swampert, Pikachu, Glaceon, Ralts, Wormadam, Azumarril, Spiritomb, Cloyster, and Pachirisu were rendered unable to move due to shock.

Then, the Spifes acted by unleashing Flamethrowers throughout smoke. The Poison Gas and Haze ignited the area, and all of the heroes' aforesaid pokemon were caught in the flames.

"Guys!" Aaron cried out concernedly. "This is _so _not fair!" Ian groused as he gritted his teeth.

"What's not fair is your twerps winning all the time!" Jessie stated vindictively as the Spifes around them snickered callously. Seviper, Arbok, Carnivine, and Weezing were ready to initiate the next phase of attacks. "Oh, quit your whining!" Ian retorted heatedly.

Aaron gritted his teeth before issuing a command, "Wormadam, use Flash Cannon on Team Rocket!" The Bagworm Pokemon began charging silver, lustrous energy in front of its body. But out of nowhere, she was struck by a Shadow Ball and hit the ground heard. "(No chance.)" Banshar said to her evilly.

"Between Team Rocket, these Spifes, and those Banshar," Brock mused aloud, "We're backed against the wall; our plan isn't working as well as we thought it would." Ash gritted his teeth as he watched him and his friends' Pokemon pant laboriously. Out of all the help Team Rocket got, why did it have to be a vengeful Banshar and its legion of pre-evolutions?

"No need to worry! We can keep at it!" Dawn piped in optimistically. "What choice do we have?" Winter responded plainly but was just as ready to persevere like Dawn. "Not much." Max answered. Misty then leaned Ash and whispered, "Listen, Ash. Even though none of our Pokemon can see through that smoke neither can Team Rocket's. Maybe we can use that to our advantage and give them some payback?" Ash nodded as he whispered back, "Worth a shot."

"We'll make this short and sweet." James declared as he pointed his finger outward. "Weezing, Poison Gas!" Jessie smirked as she too extended a gloved finger, "Seviper, Haze!" Both Poison-types opened their mouths and spewed out a huge amount of smoke and gas that once again enveloped the area.

"Let's do this! Azumarril, Aqua Tail!" Misty commanded, also acting as the signal for Ash to react. "OK! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" The Aqua Mouse Pokemon quickly swung its tail and released a blue tidal wave from the ball on the tip of its tail. Pikachu charged electricity in its cheeks and unleashed approximately 10,000 volts of electricity through the smoke and water.

Before the Spifes could perform their previous strategy again, the Aqua Tail-Thunderbolt trick worked. They, along with the leading Banshar and Team Rocket's Pokemon, were subjects to the universal lesson that water conducted electricity. A small explosion occurred and the smoke quickly went away to reveal Team Rocket's Pokemon down, the Spifes clinging to their last reservoir of energy, and Banshar suffering great damage for the first time this battle.

"Nice one, you two!" May exclaimed reverently. "That ought to knock 'em down a peg or two!" Max added in enthusiastically. "I can't believe that worked, Misty!" Ash said ecstatically. Misty, on the other hand, took the compliment and bobbed Ash on his head, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Enjoy your moment of pride, twerps!" Jessie hissed and then commanded, "Seviper, Arbok, get up and attack!"

"I don't think so," Aaron said and the commanded, "Wormadam, bind them all with String Shot!" Wormadam eagerly got in front and started releasing sticky, white silk toward Carnivine, Weezing, Seviper, Arbok, and a good bunch of the Spifes. "For once, I'm happy to see her use String Shot." Ian remarked humorously, "We've finally got them on the ropes!"

"And it's time we end this!" Ash shouted and then enjoined, "Pikachu, use Volt Tackle and their Pokemon!" Max followed up, "Ralts, use Psychic on the Spifes!" May and Winter also followed suit, issuing a command to their respective Pokemon, "Glaceon/Cloyser, use Ice Shard on the Spifes as well!"

As Pikachu charged at Team Rocket and a glorious burst of electricity surrounded its small body, Ralts released an intense psychic field from its small white and green body followed by Glaceon and Cloyster firing multiple diamond-shaped shards of ice toward the Spifes.

Volt Tackle cleanly hit its mark and caused Team Rocket and their Pokemon to go flying… "WE'RE BLASTING OFF—" …straight into the face of Ryojima Mountain almost more than halfway up it. They were definitely not going to recover anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the combined efforts of Ralts's Psychic and Glaceon and Cloyster's Ice Shard sent most of the Spifes flying as well. The remaining Spifes burned away the String Shot and prepared to counterattack. "Don't trouble yourselves." Ian stated and then ordered, "Spiritomb, Water Pulse."

"Swampert, Hydro Pump, go!"

"Pachirisu, Spark!"

Pachirisu, being faster than Spiritomb and Swampert, struck first by charging straight through of the battalion of Ghost/Fire-types while its body was covered in a blue, electric aura. That only escalated the finishing blows made by Spiritomb's Water Pulse and Swampert's Hydro Pump. The remaining Spifes were blown away instantly in an explosion, going in the opposite direction in which the group Spifes went flying.

Banshar watched everything take place. Its shock and disbelief were replaced with anger and ire after everything took place. The flame atop its body burned intensely as it growled menacingly.

Everyone set their attention on Banshar, who was floating back in the air, and prepared themselves once more. "And then there was one." Dawn announced. "Time to settle this." Aaron said determinedly.

Banshar began pounding the palms of its metal hand, picking up the pace every passing two seconds. "What's it doing?" Brock exclaimed in surprise. "Something tells we made it madder!" Max observed frightfully.

Banshar's pounding kicked up brown dust clouds around. Once the dust surrounded her completely, it brightened to a reddish-orange color similar to that of the surface of the Sun up close. Then, suddenly, Banshar charged out of the dust now cloaked in reddish fire. Its speed faster than a bullet shot out of the finest revolver, and the heroes' Pokemon were struck by the attack before they knew it.

"Oh man!" Ash exclaimed. "What was that?" Misty cried out, now becoming apprehensive at the sight of Banshar's true power. "I believe that was a move called Flame Charge." Ian answered as he narrowed his dark grey eyes. "Flame Charge?" May echoed inquiringly. "I've never heard of that move." Dawn said pensively.

As a result of Banshar's Flame Charge, the Pokemon were knocked once again. In Glaceon, Cloyster, Ralts, and Azumarril's case, they were also knocked out and swirls replaced their eyes. "W-Worma…(W-Why you…)" Wormadam snarled in its language as she painstakingly floated back in the air. Banshar eyed the Bug/Steel-type as its hollow eyes glinted with malice, "(Time to enact my revenge. Prepare to perish.)"

"No you don't!" Aaron exclaimed in objection when Banshar began charging at his Wormadam, "Hidden Power!" Ian pointed forward and commanded his Spiritomb, "Dark Pulse!"

White, revolving circles of atomic energy surrounded Aaron's Wormadam and released ivory whips of water while Ian's Spiritomb fired a beam of dark circles outlined by purple. Banshar responded by using Double Team, creating illusionary duplications of itself to evade the attacks.

"Hold still! Dawn demanded then enjoined, "Pachirisu, use Discharge to get rid of them all!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt again!"

Pachirisu and Pikachu unleashed large amounts of electricity, respectively colored blue and yellow, from their bodies and to the clones of Banshar. When the clones were eliminated, Banshar suddenly unleashed Flame Charge and struck both Electric-types.

"Oh, man!" Ash exclaimed, "How can we stop that Banshar?"

"I don't know, but it's getting on my nerves." Ian snarled irefully, "Spiritomb, Calm Mind! Then another Dark Pulse!" Spiritomb concentrated as a pinkish aura appeared on the outline of its vortex-like body. Then, it released another Dark Pulse, this one powered up by the Calm Mind, to Banshar.

"Let's work together on this Banshar," Aaron said, "String Shot!" Wormadam released more adhesive silk for the Ghost/Fire-type. Banshar, more concerned with Wormadam and thusly its attack, dodged String Shot. "(Is that all? You're pathetic-)"

"Hydro Pump, Swampert!"

"The end!"

To the Banshee Pokemon's horror, after it dodged String Shot, Spiritomb's Dark Pulse and Swampert's Hydro Pump came surging toward it and scored clean hits that buried the Ghost/Fire-type in a dusty explosion. When it cleared, Banshar was seen lying on the ground motionlessly, swirls within its hollow eyes.

"At long last, that's over with." Aaron announced in relief. Wormadam added in, "(And hopefully the last time.)" Ian whipped out an empty Pokeball of his person and threw it over to the fallen Banshee Pokemon. The red and white device popped open, dematerialized Banshar into infrared energy, and sucked it in.

"You're catching it, Ian?" Brock questioned as he recalled his Swampert. "Hey, like we need another annoyance chasing us around." Ian responded sarcastically, grinning proudly when the Pokeball stopped to signal a successful capture. "Good point." Misty agreed.

"But knowing Aaron's Wormadam, she might find something else to irritate." Dawn said humorously, causing everyone—except Wormadam—to chuckle heartily. "Somehow, I don't believe you're lying, Dawn." Aaron concurred goodheartedly as he patted the Bagworm Pokemon's head, "We all have at least one or two troublemakers or gluttons for punishment in our parties."

"You got that right. I got plenty of them." Ash stated. "Only because it rubbed off on their trainer." May replied slyly. Ash shot a glare at her direction while Pikachu snickered.

Unexpectedly, and getting back at its trainer for the earlier remark, Wormadam used Psychic to snatch Aaron's hat off his head and dashed for the entrance into the Ryojima Mountain Base. "Wh-what the? Wormadam!" Aaron shouted irately as he chased the playful Bug/Steel-type.

Ian laughed, "Something tells me that was payback!"

"Well, whatever it is, at least they're going in the right direction!" Max stated as he ran off to follow them. "Yeah, we got a whole mountain to cover as soon as possible, so let's make tracks, guy!" Ash proclaimed elatedly as he followed.

With that, Ash and company begin their ascent up Ryojima Mountain in hopes of reaching the peak where Ryojima City and Ash, Aaron, and Winter's third Tenla Region badge awaits.

Let's all hope that Wormadam doesn't suffer consequences for taking Aaron's hat.


	25. Ready, Set, Gouzatile!

**Author Notes  
**

****Hello, world of fanfiction and its writers and viewers! Yes, I have finally returned with a new chapter of PS2: The Great Adventure. I apologize for the extreme delay. Yes, it's been awhile. You can blame life for that. For those still loyal to the story, I commend and appreciate you for hanging in there. I hope the story gets interesting and better from here on out. We've still got a lot to cover, so hopefully you're going to stay for the ride!

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Ready, Set, Gouzatile!**

"OK, coordinators, time for Coin Toss!" Dawn declared melodiously, causing everyone to stop walking. Picking the application on her Poketch, she looked at the other coordinates in the group and requested, "Take you picks."

"Heads!" Ian exclaimed, successfully picking his before the others. "Tails." Aaron said afterward. "Tails for me, too." Winter softly spoke up. "I'll go with Heads!" May said confidently. "And I'll pick Heads to break even." Dawn announced and pressed the coin on the screen of the Poketch. It flipped and landed on heads. "Heads!" The dark blue-haired coordinator announced, "So, Aaron and Winter, you two will be sitting out in the Byzantine Contest!"

Aaron scoffed exasperatedly while Winter politely declared, "Th-That's fine." Ash managed to catch Aaron's exasperation, despite being himself, and said comfortingly to him, "Don't worry, you have the next Pokemon Contest to yourself." Ian, being somewhat a jerk, added in with a grin, "Yeah, Aaron. Don't get your boxers in a bunch."

Before the brunette could retort, Misty spoke up, "Alright, let's keep going on! We're still have a lot of mountain to cover!"

And that was indeed true. Since settling that Banshar and Spife feud at the base, the gang had been traversing up marked pathways outside and within Ryojima Mountain for about three hours. The last time they were in daylight, sunset was becoming imminent. They were going to rest and set up camp the next time they could see the status of day.

Whoever was in charge of Ryojima Mountain certainly made it easy for visitors to navigate through the medium-sized mountain. Entryways were dug out and craved to perfection, stairs and railing were installed, and lanterns and light-bulbs provided sufficient lighting within the caverns. At some points, the group passed directories that showed the different routes that led to excavation areas, wild Pokemon areas for trainers to catch some, and – of course – the quickest route to get to the top, Ryojima City.

Everyone decided it was best to take the quickest route. Hanging inside a mountain wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing. Plus, they wanted to get to the next Gym and see if they could boost morale after Heather's crushing defeats.

"So, anyone feeling confident in beating this Gym?" Max asked to break the silence as they walked up a flight of stony steps.

"I certainly am!" Ash said enthusiastically, showing off his famous grin, "There's no way I'm losing to two Gym Leaders in a row."

"Watch this one be even harder than Sojiro." Ian snickered vindictively.

"You're so supportive, Ian." Ash said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

The exchange elicited hearty chuckles from their companions as they reached the top of the stairs. A little ways behind them, something successfully burrowed a hole through the ground and watched them curiously. The creature was a dark brown, mole-like creature with beady, black eyes, a small nose, and small, black webbed feet. "…Morue?" The creature squeaked, tilting its head before diving back into the ground.

As it turns out, an exit to an outside pathway was at the top of the stairs. Sure enough, dusk was quickly approaching. The sun would be under the horizon any minute now. They still had a ways to go, but if they continued their pace, they would be at or near the top by late afternoon tomorrow.

As per their agreement, Ash and company began to set up camp. In addition to amazing management of the pathways, whoever landscape architect or builder was responsible was thoughtful enough to include a substantial part between the mountain surface and the pathway for hikers, travelers, and tourists to camp out. One of the directories had informed them of this feature earlier.

"Ahh~" Dawn sighed contently as he laid on her sleeping bag, "It feels nice to rest and relax after all that hiking…"

"You better rest up good then," Brock recommended, setting up his sleeping bag, "We still have more ground to cover."

"And to think we have to do this all over again when we finish." Misty said, laying on her sleeping bag and staring at the blackening sky.

May groused loudly, "Misty, don't remind me!"

Max snickered, "Well, you need it, May."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ian stepped into the conversation with a low snarl, "It means can we get some solace. We're supposed to be calming down and getting ready for sleep."

"Ian, it's not exactly late." Brock told the Ghost-type specialist, "It's probably eight o'clock."

"Early to bed, early to wise, keeps a person healthy and wise." Aaron sagaciously said in reply.

"Did you get that from a nursery rhyme book, Aaron?" Max asked. He wasn't at all curious; he was disappointed that Aaron knew such a phrase, given its implications.

"Yeah. When I was five." Aaron replied honestly, "You don't realize how true it is."

As the group of teenagers continued their conversations and idle discussions, the same Morue poked its head out of the ground and stared at the group curiously, tilting its head again. "Morue?" It didn't know why, but there was something odd about this group of people. Then again, it found all humans interesting.

"The stars are coming out." Dawn pointed out.

"We all can see that because we're all looking at the sky." Ian replied in a snarky tone.

"Ian, we can do without the negativity." Ash said with a sigh. He only heard a grumble as Ian's response.

Deciding to soothe the atmosphere, Aaron examined the sky—which was becoming progressively starry and darker—as the sun was finally and totally gone from view. He spotted a particular constellation and spoke up, "Hey, Ash. Doesn't that constellation sort of look like Pikachu's head?"

"Hm?" Ash titled his head to look at Aaron, who pointed at the sky and traced the said figure. Ash mimicked his actions visually. "Hey, you're right." He chuckled.

"Magne. (You have a big head, Pikachu.)" Magnezone commented humorously. Pikachu's ears drooped as he frowned, "Pikachu. (Thanks a lot, Magnezone.)" He said sarcastically.

"And I suppose that constellation looks like Magnezone?" Misty added in lightheartedly, tracing the figure in the starry sky with her finger.

"Actually, Misty, I'd say it looks more like a Magnemite than a Magnezone." Brock corrected. Aaron laughed a little, "But don't worry, you're technically right."

"And that one looks like Piplup's head!" Max cried out, eagerly pointing to the sky. Dawn's Piplup released a string of squeaks toward the bespectacled boy. Whatever it said triggered giggles from Dawn and a look from Max.

"Good Lord, you people are children…" Ian groused apathetically, slipping underneath the sheet of his sleeping bag and turning away from them, "Whatever you do, try to keep it down. I'm getting some shuteye."

"Sorry, Ian, just trying to pass the time! It's still a little early for my tastes." Ash responded apologetically. Once again, he only got a grunt as his response, signaling Ian was done conversing for the day.

"Regardless, we should try to follow Ian's example and get some sleep, too." Winter spoke up softly, slipping under the sheet of her sleeping bag, "Goodnight, everyone."

"Night!" Everyone else said to each other as they slipped into their sleeping bags.

"And if you get any bed bugs, blame Ian and his churlishness." Max added in humorously. That elicited final chuckles and laughs from everyone. Everyone except Ian, who growled irritably, "Bite me!"

Morue lightly chuckled itself before burrowing back into the ground for the night as well. This particular group was more interesting than any other passersby it had seen. One thing was for sure, it simply had to continue watching them.

Because they went to bed relatively early, Ash and company were able to wake up relatively early in the morning. Of course, they still had a great amount of mountain and trail to cover even with their head start.

And that unfortunate fact began to present itself around when mid afternoon cropped up. The day had gotten hotter because of the clear skies, bright sun, and mid-level humidity. Combined the temperature with the fact that all the hiking was becoming progressively more tiring, the trip was starting to seem less and less appealing.

"I'M MEEEEEEEELTING!" Ash and Winter, who were respectively on the ground and slouched over, cried out for mercy. Pikachu could only sigh, but he wasn't in any better condition. _"Pikachu. (Thank Arceus that Winter's Glaceon isn't out here to badger me.)"_ The electric mouse thought.

They were yards behind their group, each person advancing at their own pace. Ian was not too far ahead of them. Though, he was doing a better job at not complaining. Next up were Misty, May, Dawn, Max, and Piplup, all of whom were feeling drained of their strength. "So tired….Need rest…" They grumbled weakly in unison, Piplup saying the same statement in its own language.

Ahead of the pack were Aaron and Brock, but how they coped with the situation differed greatly. Being a Rock-type specialist and Gym Leader, Brock was more than used to the hiking. The strides of his legs and pumps of his arms were exaggerated as if he was letting his friends know he wasn't breaking a sweat doing this—and he really wasn't—and was feeling 'the burn' as many people would call it. Aaron was slightly behind Brock. Him, on the other hand, had to remove his trademark and continuously wipe off the sweat that accumulated at his brow. And it was becoming harder and harder to keep up with Brock's pace.

"Brock, tell me why I get the impression that you're showing off." Aaron finally said, placing his hat back on his head. Thankfully, it blocked the sunlight that was beating down on them.

"What gives you _that_ idea, Aaron?" Brock responded, smirking at Aaron over his shoulder.

"Gee, I really wonder…" Aaron muttered with a roll of his brown eyes. Magnezone floated beside its trainer and said, "Magne. Magnezone. (I would say I feel your pain, but I don't. My kind floats instead of walks.)" Floating as opposed to walking required absolutely no effort, so Magnezone could be considered in the same condition as Brock. But, it had to admit the temperature could be a bit more relenting.

"Goodness…This is unbearable…." Winter panted as she forced herself to walk. Ash had removed himself from the ground and did the same. Either they had increased their pace or Ian decreased his because Ash and Winter had caught up to Ian.

"Sometimes, I think this isn't even worth it." Ian grumbled distastefully. He only got a small nod from Winter and Pikachu in response.

"Okay, you know what. Forget this!" Ash shouted as he pulled out a Pokeball. Ian, Pikachu, and Winter watched him with blinking eyes.

The next thing everyone else knew, Ash's Fearow was flying above and passing the group while carrying Ash and Winter; and Ian was using his Drifblim to transport him, taking Ash's example. "I feel so much better now." Ash declared contently as Winter giggled.

"….." May and Dawn suppressed twitches of annoyances as Max only stared.

"…You've got to be kidding me." Misty groused.

"…Lazy little jerks!" Brock shouted, shaking his fist at them.

"…Why didn't I think of that?" Aaron uttered. He then promptly released his Skarmory, mounted it, and followed the rapidly departing Ash, Winter, and Ian. Of course, that only increased Brock's irritation.

Because of their improvisation, those four managed to make up for lost time and reach the end of the trail in a matter of minutes. Aaron, Ian, Winter, and Ash dismounted their respective Pokemon, all saying thanks for their much-needed assistance, and recalled them back into their Pokeballs.

"Phew. That was certainly handy!" Aaron said, stretching his arms and back.

"Still can't believe Ash was the one who thought of it." Ian stated, sending a belittling smirk over to the Pallet Town resident. Ash responded with a blank stare, "Gee, thanks, Ian." Ian chuckled lightheartedly, "Oh, Ash. I'm just screwing with you. No need to get defensive."

Winter put her arms behind her back and interlaced her fingers as she said, "Well, I guess we just wait for the others now." Aaron nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Wouldn't want them to get even madder at us by heading into the city without them." Ash and Ian imagined the scenario Aaron implied in their minds and suppressed humored snickers.

Knowing that their Flying Pokemon shaved off a considerable amount of time, Ash and his group had to keep themselves patient and preoccupied for some time. Said already, everyone estimated it would be late afternoon by the time they reached the summit. Ash and his group used that estimation for the rest of the group, meaning it would take about thirty to forty-five minutes before everyone would be reunited.

Eventually, said time arrived and, as they predicted, the remainder of the group made their appearance. "ARCEUS! That was terrible!" Dawn shouted irefully as Piplup huffed exhaustedly. Max and May were busy groaning.

"Welcome, Slowpokes." Ian greeted them teasingly with a grin.

"The stunt you guys pulled was cheap!" Brock and Misty shouted at them, pointing accusing fingers.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Ash replied innocently. Winter opted to stay out of the conversation as Aaron only shrugged his shoulders at the accusation, "Think of it this way, on the return trip, we can use our Flying Pokemon to get us down at a faster rate, even if we have to group together."

Realizing the validity behind Aaron's words, Misty calmed down, "I guess you're right…But don't _ever_ pull that sort of stunt! Any of you!"

To varying degrees, everyone one began laughing and chuckling. Once again, Morue popped out of a spot in the ground, unnoticed by them, and squeaked out a few chuckles, having listened to their entire conversations. Suddenly, it stopped chuckling, its nose twitching as it felt something underground.

Burrowing for most of their lives and having been born underground, all Morue had hypersensitivity to seismic and/or tectonic activity, or anything of the like. Now, it was feeling a small disturbance in the ground. Curious, Morue burrowed deep into the ground, following where it felt the activity.

Morue's journey brought it deep into a chasm within Ryojima Mountain. If it recalled correctly, this particular part of the mountain was called the Heart of Heat by residents. The first thing it noticed was that people were on the walkway. While the Heart of Heat was not closed off to tourists, not many people actually visited it. As far as it knew, it had no significance.

But these specific people were here, garbed in uniforms nonetheless. The majority of them wore black shirts, black leather pants, and sunglasses. Some had modifications—whether intentional or customary—to them. That included a good number of the males wearing a sort of vest, some ladies wearing a trench coat, and a few males and females wearing white lab coats. Regardless of their garments, each top possessed a symbol: a golden H with the vertical line fire-shaped and curved almost like a scythe's blade.

This was strange, it thought; what could they possibly be doing? As it seemed, they were doing nothing as if waiting for something or someone. Because of that, there wasn't much that it could do. Not that it would matter. Morue was sure they possessed Pokemon that would destroy it instantly.

But before it actually left, it spotted another human not like these shady people. The youthful person looked about twenty, boring sea green eyes, a slightly pale complexion, and broad shoulders. His slightly spiky, light blue hair capped out in length just past his shoulders. His outfit consisted of a black, V-neck shirt with a cream yellow neckline and zipper line; dark green hakama with black trim and hems; and low-cut sandal-like leather shoes. His hakama were fastened to his waist by a cream yellow sash. Another, thinner cream yellow sash stretches diagonally across his chest and is connected to the other sash by a bronze, Pokeball-style buckle at the side. At the top of the diagonal sash, his left shoulder to be exact, black cloth flows from it and stops in length at his midsection.

Whatever that guy was doing, he was watching the activity of the shady people like a hawk. He was hiding behind a rock formation at the curve of a wall that led into the main pathway within the Heart of Heat. Apparently, there was something big yet secretive going on underneath the surface of Ryojima City. But, for now, there wasn't anything it could do, so it decided to head back to the surface and find Ash and company again.

The semi-modern, terraneous Ryojima City did not possess much. After all, it was a city built atop a volcano; skyscrapers and lavish festivals were out of the question. However, it wasn't classified as a city simply for the heck of it. Every square inch of the large crater atop Ryojima City was covered by buildings, residences, and other miscellaneous features. Most of the residences resembled huts or barracks like one would see in a Chinese or Japanese village. All of the major buildings such as Pokemon Center, Mart, stores were regular, modern facilities.

Ash and company walked around Ryojima City, admiring the contrasting unity between old-fashioned and new age. While it was probably one of the smaller cities, it was comely nonetheless.

"I'm impressed they were able to form this city," Ian commented, "You know, being on top of a dead volcano and all."

"That is what makes the Tenla Region so unique compared to other regions," Winter said with arms behind her back, smiling shyly, "The people adapt to any and every obstacle, whether environmental or otherwise, and make something good out of it."

"There it is! The Pokemon Center." Max suddenly announced, pointing eastward. Following it, the group could see the red roof and symbol of the Ryojima City Pokemon Center. They hurried toward it. Once inside, they began getting stuff taken care of. That included getting their Pokemon checked up and rotated inside the PC, getting their bags and equipment put into the spare dorms in the back, and resting up from all the hiking.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Aaron asked the group once they had all reconvened in the Pokemon Center lobby.

"Time to challenge the Gym! Let's go!" Ash said enthusiastically as he and the others stepped outside. However an unfortunate fact reared its ugly mug. They had all arrived in Ryojima City late afternoon. By the time all their settling in was done, however, mid-evening had approached.

The streetlights were on and all people were seemingly getting ready to settle down for the night. And because they were on the summit of Ryojima Mountain, where the horizon in their perspective was higher than the other parts, the sun was already gone.

"…Uhh…maybe we should challenge the Gym tomorrow." Brock suggested uneasily. He got no objections. After all, they were not going to lose any hours of sleep over something that could wait tomorrow. Besides, they learned from the Aparra Village Contest that, after viewing an exciting battle, you would not be able to immediately fall asleep.

"You guys can back inside. I'm going to find somewhere to train right quick." Ash announced as he walked off, separating himself from the group.

"Same here. Don't wait up." Aaron said as he followed Ash. Everyone else nodded and went back inside to get ready for the night.

Aaron and Ash went back to the trail outside the city to do their training and evaluating. Once there, Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder and landed by his feet while Magnezone floated to the side.

"Any clue what type this Gym Leader specializes in?" Ash asked Aaron as he took out a Pokeball and stared at it. Aaron cupped his thought contemplatively and surmised, "Well, I always make that guess based on the town or environment the Gym is around. So, my guess is that the Gym Leader specializes in either Fire- or Rock-types."

"Because we're on a volcano, right?" Ash inquired, looking at the older trainer and coordinator.

"Precisely," Aaron responded, "Of course, that is by no means absolute. I've made some dead wrong guesses in the past. Like, I thought Byron specialized in Water-types because of Canalave City, and I thought Sabrina specialized in Ghost-types because Saffron City was so close to Lavender Town."

Ash and Pikachu laughed a little, finding the humor in that statement. Ash finally tossed out that Pokeball and Gouzatile was released. "Alright, Gouzatile, you ready to train for tomorrow's Gym Battle?" Ash asked readily. Gouzatile only gave a blank stare before rudely sneering and turning away. "Huh?" Ash and Pikachu blinked simultaneously.

Magnezone only stared unblinkingly as Aaron stated, "Ash, you really should invest in getting more Pokemon. I mean Pikachu, Fearow, Scere, and Gouzatile aren't exactly an elite team, and the Tenla Region has already proven to be a difficult region."

"Well, I do have more Pokemon, Aaron," Ash said in reply, "It's just that I always try to start off with a fresh, clean slate with each region I travel to. Well, except Pikachu; he's always going to be a part of my team."

Suddenly, a vicious snarl broke the conversation. Aaron, Pikachu, Ash, and Magnezone looked to see Gouzatile releasing a great amount of heat, its reptilian eyes flashing with ire. "(Stop…looking…down…on me!)" Gouzatile hissed, anger and venom practically dripping from its voice.

"G-Gouzatile, what's the matter?" Ash questioned as he approached the Lizard Pokemon. When Gouzatile sent a warning glare toward it, he immediately backed off in fear of being incinerated by a potential Flamethrower.

"(What good is training anymore?)" Gouzatile shouted, "(If I'm just going to get embarrassed and defeated time after time?)"

Pikachu casted a downtrodden look, "Pika pi…? (You're not talking about that Gym Battle against Heather, aren't you…?)"

"(Of course I am! And that battle against that Cloyster, too!)" Gouzatile roared.

Aaron and Magnezone only watched on, thinking about the situation. Obviously, the Fire-type Tenla starter had a great amount of pride and tenacity, but it did not like how it has yet to win a major battle while under Ash's belt. Combine that with all the hard work and training it does, it seemed no merit was in sight.

"Ash, your Gouzatile really wants to win," Aaron finally articulated his thoughts, "It's suffered pride-damaging defeats, and it's starting to think no training is going to change that."

Ash looked at Gouzatile sympathetically, "Gouzatile…c'mon now, don't think that! You gotta keep your head up!" The Pride of Pallet Town only got another rude, indignant scoff as his response.

Aaron took off his bag and reached into it, pulling out what seemed to be a Pokeblock dispenser. "Ash, let me try something." He volunteered as he began approaching Gouzatile. Expectedly, Gouzatile began charging up and prepared to shoot a warning Flamethrower. However, a weak yet sudden zap of electricity surprised it and stopped anything further.

"Magnezone. (If you so much as burn a hem on Aaron's clothing, your butt is doing down one slope of this mountain while your head goes down the other.)" The Magnet Area Pokemon threatened. Normally, Gouzatile would be unaffected by the threat. But, Magnezone's central eye was flashing a violent red as concentrated electricity sparkled in its magnets. It was dead serious and had every intention of carrying out its threat.

So, Gouzatile opted for the smarter option: shutting up and allowing Aaron to do what he wanted. "…Geez, Magnezone…" Ash mumbled as Pikachu cowered behind its trainer. Even if the threat was directed toward him, Pikachu was very much frightened by it.

Aaron flipped the switch on the Pokeblock dispenser, allowing a Gold Pokeblock to fall before Gouzatile. "Eat that. It's the best kind there is." The Lizard Pokemon carefully sniffed it and allowed its forked tongue to slip out and snatch the food into its mouth.

"Listen, Gouzatile," Aaron began, "I'm starting to understand you aren't the average Fire-type. You have more pride and resolve than others. But, please, realize that Ash has only had you for a little while. These are the ups and downs in belonging to a trainer. You won't tap into your full potential just moping around; and you won't accomplish that by dashing in pursuit of the next victory either. A real champion ponders what he has to do to improve and learn from its battles."

For the first time since this 'training session' began, Gouzatile calmed down and listened. It actually paid attention to what Aaron had to say. Doing what he said, it began to ponder about everything that has happened up until now. That Cloyster and Walrein were obviously well-trained and well-developed whereas it was only in its first stage of its evolutionary line. On that same principle, those two Pokemon were greatly experienced; something it doesn't have yet.

Finally, Gouzatile nodded, "(Okay, fine. I get you.)"

Aaron smiled and looked at Ash, "I think Gouzatile is ready to train now. Ash, it's also your responsible to make sure Gouzatile is able to perform to the best of its ability tomorrow. After having this conversation, it certainly doesn't want another major loss under its belt. It's time to start balancing your wins and losses."

Ash could only laugh and shake his head. Aaron was definitely a close second to Brock when it came to Pokemon experience and wisdom. "Right. I get you, Aar." The raven-haired trainer said. He looked at Aaron and asked, "Aaron, I've got two questions. One, how were you able to figure that out? Two, how in the world did you make Gold Pokeblocks?"

Aaron folded his arms behind his head as he looked off to the side thoughtfully, "Well…I had an apprentice who now specializes in

Fire-types. I taught him in my younger years. So, I guess you can say I know the basics about Fire-types. That, and I have to be aware of Steel-types' natural enemy."

Ash thought about it. Wait, Aaron was only sixteen, going on seventeen. If younger years implied the time frame between now and when all trainers started their journey, at ten, teaching an apprentice had to be an impractical secondary occupation. "You're kidding me." He said in unconvinced tone.

"You think I'm joking. I'm serious." Aaron replied sincerely, "His name was Jacob Forut. At the request of his mother, he became my travelling companion, and I taught him the basics about Pokemon, battling, etc. He was my apprentice for three years. Ian knows him just as good as I do, too, so if you want an outside word, ask him."

Ash decided to take Aaron's word for it but was still skeptical. He would certainly have to ask Ian or even meet this Jacob Forut in person one day. "As for your second question," Aaron stated, "Not only does it take a number of ingredients, it takes time. Like my first ones almost took three hours to create. But, once you first get it and keep doing it, you'll suddenly find yourself with a whole thing of Gold Pokeblocks."

"I figured that," Ash shrugged his shoulders, "May's been trying to make some for the longest, and she keeps failing." Aaron sweat-dropped and chuckled sheepishly, imagining the repeated failures of the "Princess of Hoenn."

"(Hey!)" Gouzatile exclaimed, catching everyone's attention, "(Are we done talking? C'mon, let's train! We got a Gym Battle to win tomorrow!)"

Ash and Aaron looked at Gouzatile and nodded with grins. Playtime was over for the moment, they had business to attend to.

Morue, who had been watching the whole thing, smiled and wished them all good luck tomorrow, and it watched the whole one-hour-long training session unfold.


	26. In the Wake

**Author**** Notes****  
**

Okay, trying to keep a fairly decent routine in publishing chapters for this story. If all goes well, there should be an influx of them throughout this month. Regardless, I thank those who are still giving this story a chance. By the way, Sojiro's title is known as "The Blooming Volcano."

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, Jacob Forut, Alroma, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, Team Hectic, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**In the Wake**

At long last, Ash and company were face-to-face with the Ryojima City Gym. It was located at the northernmost part of the city. The Gym itself resembled a dojo with a crimson roof and white stone walls.

"Well, here it is." Brock said, examining every nook and cranny of the facility, "Ash, Aaron, Winter, you guys ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Ash exclaimed confidently as Aaron and Winter soundlessly nodded.

"Then let's stop dawdling and get this going." Ian impatiently said.

Ignoring the impatience in his tone, Ash and company proceeded toward the entrance of the Pokemon Gym. Typically, Ash was the first to make the initiative. He grasped the handle and slid the wooden door open. "Hello? Anyone here?" Ash shouted, stepping inside the empty gym, "My friends and I have requests—"

"AHH, IT BURNS! HELP ME! AHH, HOT, HOT, HOT!"

The next thing Ash and company knew was someone bursting out of the backroom, running around the place with a fragment of his clothing burning rather violently. Ash and company deadpanned at the sight, a collective "Uhhhhh…." slipping out of their mouths.

"Alright, Transpy, come out and use Water Gun!" Misty commanded while throwing out her Pokeball. Transpy was released and immediately shot a jet of water out of its small mouth. The Water Gun hit its mark, engulfing the person and extinguishing the flames.

Now that he had stopped running around and Transpy finished using Water Gun, the gang was able to get a good look at him. He was tall and lanky, probably at 6'4", with red and yellow hair tied into a "pineapple head" ponytail and orange eyes. His red and white trench coat needed to be thrown out due to how badly it was burned. Luckily, the rest of his clothing was fine, which consisted of an off-white kodose with torn-off sleeves. Near the hem of his kodose is a red and orange pattern that resembled hotrod flames. His sweatpants are also colored off-white and have a red waistband. Lastly, he wore orange and white shoes.

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked as Misty caught Transpy in her arms and the others stared on.

"Oh, yeah. I appreciate it." The young man thanked in reply, removing his scorched trench coat and letting it hang in his hand, "First things first, my name is Sojiro. The Ryojima City Gym Leader."

"…Gym Leader?" Ash, Dawn, and May exclaimed in shock.

_"…He's GOT to be lying…"_ Ian and Misty said mentally.

Sojiro placed his hand before his head and rubbed it sheepishly, releasing a nervous chuckle, "Y-Yeah…that's me." Aaron pointed out unrestrainedly, "You sound new at this." Sojiro immediately hung his head low in defeat, "Don't judge me. I've just been Gym Leader a week…"

"That's not…too bad." Winter comforted, choosing her words carefully.

"Question," Ian stepped in, "How the heck did you catch on fire? And didn't your mother teach you how to stop, drop, and roll?" He ignored the unimpressed glares everyone gave him as Sojiro responded, "Well, I panicked! And…uh-oh…"

"Uh-oh what?" The gang questioned in unison.

The answer came in the form of the backdoors bursting open violently. Immediately, everyone turned to the source of the calamity: an Infernape, a Magmortar, and a Darmanitan attacking wildly, trying to instigate a fight between each other. Well, if they weren't fighting already. Al three fully-evolved Pokemom were shooting out flames haphazardly.

"That's uh-oh!" Sojiro explained in a panic-stricken tone. He immediately ran over to his quarreling Pokemon, "Guys! Cut it out! We have visitors, and we go through this every day!"

Infernape, Magmortar, and Darmanitan immediately shot nasty looks to their trainer, releasing jets of flames as a warning. However, Sojiro was inclined to duck to avoid the attack regardless. "AH!"

"Okay, that's where I draw the line." Brock said seriously as he and the others took out Pokeballs.

"I guess it's up to us to discipline some disobedient pokemon." Dawn said as Piplup jumped up out of her arms readily.

"Don't worry! I got this! Arcanine, Flame Charge! Mag, Flamethrower! Camerupt, Stone Edge!"

Just as quickly as the ruckus started, it was ended when three different Fire Pokemon made their appearance. An Arcanine, engulfed in an arm of flames, suddenly rammed itself into Infernape who subsequently crashed into the wall. A Magcargo was next up, shooting an abnormally powerful stream of fire toward Magmortar. Despite the attack not being very effective, it was able to subjugate the Magmortar. Finally, a Camerupt stepped forth and launched several sharp, pale stones at the Darmanitan, scoring an instant KO.

"…Well, that was anticlimactic." Ian grumbled in complaint, putting away his Pokeballs. Most of the gang shared similar emotions, feeling as if their chance at heroism was denied by whoever decided to step in.

Sojiro relied in relief and in a bit of shame as he recalled his fainted, disobedient Fire-types. "Jeez, Sojiro, how did your Pokemon get like that?" The person sported wild, red hair with reddish-pink eyes. Her clothing consisted of a red tank top with an abstract black heart symbol on the center of the torso with a black cardigan over it, along with black camo pants with intersecting red straps. For footwear, she had converses with matching color scheme.

Sojiro looked at her and shrugged, "Flannery, you got me."

"No way." Aaron and Ash suddenly said. Before that, they were felt an irking wave of familiarity wash across them, unable to figure out who exactly this woman was despite feeling as if they met her before. Now that Sojiro spoke, they were unable to believe it.

"Flannery?" Max and May exclaimed in shock.

"Lavaridge City Gym Leader?" Misty, Winter, and Dawn said in unison, confirming that they too knew this person.

Noticing the attention she suddenly got, Flannery turned to Ash and company flashed a confident, winner-class grin, "The one and only!"

It was expected that Brock would be the first react. "My dear Flannery!" The fellow Gym Leader and breeder-in-training instantly kneeled before Flannery and chivalrously took her hand, "Ah, it has been far too long, but fate has yet again brought us together. I'm sure you remember the one who helped when we first met, the Water Gun that saved, and perpetually intertwined our fates—"

"TOXI!"

Brock's little speech was cut short when his Toxicroak injected him a lethal dose of Poison Jab. Falling over, Max and Misty grabbed him and dragged him off with the Poison/Fighting-type following suit.

Flannery only chuckled, "Same old Brock, I see."

Sojiro, meanwhile, was thoroughly confused, "Is he a womanizer or something?"

Before anyone else could sugarcoat it, Ian bluntly answered, "You got that right. Too bad he fails each and every time."

"That's not funny, Ian." Brock said, suddenly appearing beside the Ghost-type specialist. Ian jumped in shock, "How the hell did you recover so quickly?"

Ignoring that part of the conversation, Ash approached Flannery and stated, "Flannery! Didn't expect you to be here."

"Well, I heard Tenla, specifically Ryojima Mountain, had some Fire-types that would interest me," Flannery nodded her head in Sojiro's direction, "Of course, I didn't expect Mr. Novice over here to be in charge of the Gym. Since I know what he's going through, I'm helping him out for the time being." Sojiro scoffed at Flannery's nickname for him.

"You know all about that, wouldn't you?" Max teased, unaffected by the look Flannery shot her.

Now, it was Aaron's turn to speak, "Based on all this commotion, it seems you've finally become Gym Leader, Flannery. Bravo."

"Long time no see, Aar," Flannery responded appreciatively, "And thanks!"

Ash looked at Aaron confusedly, "Wait, you know Flannery, Aaron?" The brunette looked at the raven-haired trainer and chuckled, "You say that as if you're the only one who goes on these journeys." When Ash gave him a look, he dropped the playfulness and finally answered, "Yeah, I do. I've gone to the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn Regions. You guys already know about Sinnoh. Like you guys, I had some travelling partners. Like Ian."

"But, because Aaron is older than you, Ash," Flannery added in, "He fought against my grandfather, Mr. Moore, not me."

"That also brings up an interesting story," Ian suddenly spoke, pointing at the 'One with a fiery passion that burns,' "She pretended to be the Gym Leader when we got there, but she did it in a_ very_ wannabe-like manner, so we instantly knew she was being a poser."

Ash, Brock, and Max instantly laughing as May, Dawn, and Misty giggled. Aaron, Sojiro, and Winter only shared sheepish expressions. Flannery flushed in embarrassment as she tried to maintain her humility, "That was _how_ many years ago?"

Ian smirked, "Doesn't matter. Still happened."

"_Anyway_," Aaron stepped in, gesturing over to Misty, Winter, and Dawn, "These particular three you don't know on a name-to-name basis. Flannery, these are Misty, Winter, and Dawn; and likewise." The redheaded Gym Leader matched face with name and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Anyway again," Ash spoke, facing Sojiro with a determined face, "Sojiro, since you're Ryojima City Gym Leader, me and three other friends of mine challenge you!" Aaron tipped his hat and Winter waved sheepishly as a means of letting him know they were the other two challengers.

"I'll happy be to oblige," Sojiro replied, "As soon as I get my…issue out of the way."

Ash and company had an idea of what he meant, and Brock articulated those feelings, "Disobedient and rowdy Pokemon, huh?"

Sojiro nodded shamefully, "Yep…Out of the eight pokemon I own, only three will fully listen to me."

"I've been trying to help Sojiro for the past couple of days with them," Flannery said, placing her hands on her hips, "But I can't figure out what's wrong, but the best I've been doing is subjugating them as you saw moments ago."

"But, I shouldn't burden challengers with my own problems," Sojiro responded demurely, "You guys came for a Gym Badge, not a sob story."

That's when Brock stepped in and offer his famous knowledge, "Sojiro. Whenever I'm not traveling with Ash, or studying up as a breeder, I take up the role as the Pewter City Gym Leader. So I can tell you for certain that using disobedient pokemon in battle is hazardous for both the Gym Leader and the challenger."

Then, Misty added in, "So, it's Brock and mine, as Cerulean City Gym Leader, to help a fellow Gym Leader overcome his problems. At least for the sake of our friends."

For the first time since they met him, a genuine, happy smile appeared on Sojiro's face, "Thanks, guys. This means _so _much to me!" Everyone reciprocated the smile, to varying degrees, and nodded.

Sojiro then looked at Flannery and asked, "Wait, um, where the others? My Houndoom, Charizard, and Typhlosion?"

Now it was Flannery's turn to pale, "Aw, crap."

Despite that, Ash and company were unprepared for what happened next. The backdoors literally exploded open as the three aforementioned Pokemon were sent flying. "HIT THE DECK!" Brock shouted. Everyone immediately duck or flopped into the floor as the Typhlosion, Houndoom, and Charizard crashed against the wall behind them all.

"…Whoa…" That was the single-worded response of Dawn, Max, and Ian upon turning around and seeing how badly defeated and annihilated those three supposedly powerful Fire-types were.

"…Um. There they are, Sojiro!" Flannery suddenly said in attempt to recollect her usual passionate self, standing up straight and gesturing over to them. Sojiro straightened up and deadpanned to her, "We can see that, Flan." He then heard heavy steps entering the room and smiled, "And it wasn't because of you. It was because of Volcoise."

Entering from the charred and broken backdoors was a large tortoise Pokemon. It had a charcoal black shell with a red hole at the very top with fissures running down it, resembling a dome-shaped volcano. Its dark red skin was rough and wrinkly, suggesting the endurance of many rigorous trials and battles as opposed to the endurance of time and age. It had piercing blue eyes and a small tail in the back.

On top of that Pokemon's shell was another creature. This one was much smaller, cowering inside a brownish, flowerpot-like base. Its main body was simply a cactus, green and thorny, with two short, fingerless arms gripping the rim timidly. It had three black holes, two functioning as eyes and the third one functioning as an oblong mouth, and a flame-shaped flower bud on its head.

The tortoise Pokemon allowed flames to leak past its lips as it snarled, "Coise. (Know your freaking place.)" Apparently, this was the one who dealt with Charizard, Typhlosion, and Houndoom rather easily and violently.

"Now _that's _power." Ash said in awe as he took out his Pokedex.

"No kidding." Dawn agreed, doing the same.

**"Volcoise: The Volcanic Pokemon. The evolved form of Torkoal. Volcoise's shell is entirely made of extremely tough coal that hardened upon evolution from residual coal in its body. Excessive soot or coal is released from its body in the form of fire or molten lava."**

**"Buractus: The Desert Plant Pokemon. Buractus lives in the deserts or known hotspots and tries to siphon any water in the sands or environment. The needles on their bodies protect them from omnivorous predators."**

(A/N: Volcoise [vol-kois] is a combination of the words "**volc**ano" and "tort**oise**". Buractus is a combination of the words "**bur**n" and "c**actus**". I'm sure the meanings are self-explanatory in relation to the pokemon.)

"See, I can always rely on Volcoise to keep my rowdy Pokemon in line when _someone_," Sojiro shot Flannery a look who responded with a sheepish one, "isn't doing that." He proceeded to pull out Pokeballs and recall those three into them.

"It really does look so powerful…" Max complimented in awe, walking up to Volcoise when it trudged over. The Volcanic Pokemon snorted, smokes shooting out of its nostril, causing Max to instantly back up in fear. Apparently, it wasn't all that friendly.

"Volcoise has always been powerful," Sojiro stated, "But I've mainly had to rely on it since I became Gym Leader. You see, I know the basics and the tricks of the trade when it comes to be a Gym Leader, so give me that much credit. I know, when challengers hear a rookie gets in charge of the Gym, they think 'oh, someone who is not used to the hustle and bustle; let's beat him down while he's not up to date yet.'" He hung his head low and sighed heavily, "Hate to say it, but they're right. I'm on a losing streak…"

"I think it's already been established it's because of your disobedient Pokemon." Aaron cajoled.

"Yes, I know." Sojiro said and then looked at the two Gym Leaders that offered their assistance, "When will we start?"

Brock and Misty smiled, "Immediately."

* * *

Meanwhile, two other characters were making their way to the top of the mountain, traversing up the mountain path more easily than Ash and company.

The younger person was sixteen, the same age as Aaron and Ian, sporting pupil-less, burnt sienna eyes, a light tan skin tone, and a pair of green-rimmed glasses. His outfit consisted of a Han Chinese shenyi that was mainly colored bright orange. The cuffs, sash, and hems of the shenyi were colored blizzard blue. This particular shenyi was without a "skirt" so that it appeared like a regular modern shirt. He wore white pants with blizzard blue hems and shoes. Resting on his head was a Yanmega.

The other person was much older, at around thirty-nine years of age, sporting similar features to her companion. She had the same skin complexion and eyes, but her hair was a bit longer and wavier in comparison to the teen's conditioned hair. Her outfit consisted of a generic white tank top, showing off her womanly muscles, and a black karate-type kimono but undone so that the top portions wilt and reveal her aforementioned upper body. The red obi sash used to keep the kimono on is still fastened so that the lower portions fit around her lower body like regular pants/hakama. Lastly, she was wearing army boots and fingerless gloves.

The teen adjusted his glasses before asking, "Mom, how close are we to Ryojima City?"

She replied, "We'll be there soon, Jacob, try to relax."

"What are we doing anyway?"

"Well, I need to check up on my replacement at the Ryojima Gym. Plus, there is a couple of stuff I need to get."

Understanding, Jacob only nodded and said nothing else. Yanmega, meanwhile, was utterly bored with the trip. Nothing else interesting was happening or had been happening for the longest. Suddenly, it sensed something. Yanmega were known to be able to produce shock waves from their wing beats; that worked inversely as well—they could sense other shock waves such as other insectoid buzzing or even the wing beats of other flying Pokemon. "Yan. (Yo, J, Fisterre, head's up.)" The Ogre Darner Pokemon announced.

Fisterre stopped walking and looked at her son's most prized Pokemon, "Head's up for what?" Jacob blinked curiously, not knowing what to expect.

Then, up ahead the long mountain trail, something flew around the curve. The creature was significantly larger than a human, because it was hauling one, and was sporting four wings. Its main body and inner parts of its wings were a sky blue color with the feathery outlines of its wings a slate grayish color. It had a long, sky blue tail with its tip colored slate grey and possessing many spike-like extensions. Its head was covered with a pointed, silver helmet—making it look avian—with golden eyes and two glowing bluish antennae drooping from the back.

Fisterre narrowed her eyes, unable to figure out what it was, "Is that a…? Um…"

"A Numigon." Jacob said, already having knowledge of the Pokemon, "They're known as the Levelheaded Pokemon, and their typing is Dragon and Psychic with Levitate as their Ability. They say, in ancient times, they used to be weak Pokemon like Magicarp, but centuries of patience of meditation made them immensely stronger. As if Arceus blessed them on the spot."

As Numigon continued to fly, it noticed the mother-son duo and hummed something in a mystical but pleasant voice to its rider, who happened to be the man that was inside Ryojima Mountain spying on the shady group of people. He looked at them and instantly recognized the older member of the duo, "Ah, perfect! Bring me down, Numigon."

Obediently, the Levelheaded Pokemon swooped down to the family and stopped in the air with the man jumping down. "Sorry to drop on such short notice. Fisterre." He said apologetically with a bow.

"What seems to be the problem, Alroma?" Fisterre asked, crossing her arms. Jacob stared at the guy curiously and looked at his mother and inquired, "Mom, who's this?" Fisterre answered in reply, "An eminent trainer in the Tenla Region."

"Your son I presume, Fisterre?" Alroma looked at Jacob and smiled, "He's your spitting image."

Feeling proud, Fisterre draped an arm around her son and replied, "Well, what did you expect? His name is Jacob." Jacob smiled sheepishly and waved as Yanmega got off his head and stayed afloat in the air. Fisterre then got serious and asked once again, "Now, what's wrong?"

Alroma got serious as well when he announced grimly, "I spotted Team Hectic within the mountain, specifically around the Heart of Heat section."

"Oh great…" Fisterre sighed in frustration, "I knew I heard the League circulating rumors that they had become active again, but to hear some proof about it sours my mood." Jacob, meanwhile, stayed quiet as he listened to the two adults converse. Jacob knew his mother originally came from the Tenla Region, specifically Ryojima City, so she knew all about what was going on. He had a rudimentary grasp on what Team Hectic was all about given from bits and pieces his mother told him. They weren't like Team Rocket, that was for sure.

"I'm heading down to the mountain base because I overheard them saying other, more important personnel were on their way," Alroma announced and then asked, "Can I trust that you and the Gym Leader up ahead can extirpate the ones within the Heart of Heat?"

"Of course. You run along, Alroma," Fisterre shooed him away, "Leave this to authorized personnel." With a light snicker, Alroma mounted his Numigon, and the Dragon/Psychic combination jetted away at amazing speed. Fisterre then looked at her son and said, "Summon your Arcanine. We need to speed up our pace."

Jacob nodded as he removed a Pokeball from his traveling bag and released the Legendary Pokemon, Arcanine. Immediately, Jacob and Fisterre mounted the Fire-type, and it dashed off gracefully with Yanmega unfailing to match its speed in the air.


	27. Where There's Smoke, There's Fire

**Author**** Notes****  
**

This author notes is really just to advertise something I've done in the predecessor of this story, Pokemon Story. I have added several chapters of bonus/extra content in it, and I strongly wish for faithful readers to check it out. With that out of the way, please enjoy the rest of the chapter.

**Disclaimer:** Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, Winter, Jacob Forut, Alroma, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Gym Leaders of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, Team Hectic, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.

**Where There's Smoke, There's Fire**

Under strict instruction, Sojiro was asked to leave his Volcoise, Buractus, and his unknown third obedient Pokemon elsewhere as their assistance would be unneeded. So, that left him with a full team of disobedient, rowdy, and battle-hungry Fire-types. _"Well, at least Brock trains Rock-types and Misty trains Water-types. So we'll be fine." _That was the thought he used to comfort himself.

Right now, he was within a section underneath the surface of Ryojima City that was only accessed via a tunnel near the back of the city. It was the nearest perfect place to train as it was away from civilians, and the area itself was spacious. Sojiro was sitting on a rocky bench waiting for the two Gym Leaders' return. In his lap were the six Pokeballs that contained Darmanitan, Charizard, Typhlosion, Magmortar, Houndoom, and Infernape, and he was staring at them pensively. He was starting to have his doubts, _"Can Brock and Misty really help me…?"_

Before he could ruminate further, two voices suddenly announced, "We're back!"

Sojiro looked at the Tomboyish Mermaid and the Rock-Solid Pokemon Trainer and asked, "What were you two doing?"

"Getting Pokemon that we specialize in," Brock explained and then corrected himself, "Well, _used _to specialize in…"

Sojiro only nodded as he pocketed all six of the Pokeballs and stood up. "So, what are we going about doing this?" He asked.

Misty explained, "You said you've had to rely on three specific Pokemon in your battles for a while, right? Sounds like to me the others haven't experienced a taste of crushing, humiliating defeat." When Sojiro blinked in confusion, Brock added in, "Disobedient pokemon tend to have a great amount of pride when they have experienced minimal to no personal losses. They think their own power is necessary to handle the job, not the trainer's."

When Sojiro thought about it, these specific six were a winner-class team. Throughout the time he used them, he could barely recall any individual or total losses with them. After pondering it, Sojiro realized that they only became rowdy a month before he was appointed Ryojima City Gym Leader. He felt stupid for not recognizing the telltale signs beforehand—lack of enthusiasm, boredom, and sometimes increased remorseless toward fallen opponents.

"Work your magic." Sojiro resolutely said to them.

"Alright, come out, everyone!" Brock and Misty shouted as they threw up the six Pokeballs in each of their possession. All twelve of the red and white machines popped open to release white light that materialized the creatures held inside.

Brock's six Pokemon consisted of Steelix, Sudowoodo, Geodude, Kabutops, Sedieon, and Rhydon. Misty's six were Corsola, Azumarril, Transpy, Gyarados, Politoad, and Starmie. All of them and their respective trainer stared expectantly at Sojiro, awaiting for when he would release his six Pokemon.

The Blooming Volcano took a deep breath as he removed those six Pokeballs from his person again. _"I really hope this works…"_ He thought desperately as the disciplining session commenced.

* * *

"Well, since Sojiro's busy, we might as well chill until he's done."

Meanwhile, Ash, Dawn, May, Max, Aaron, Winter, Ian, and Flannery were lounging around on the stands inside the Gym, having a drink. As Flannery just stated, they had plenty of time to kill.

"So, Flannery, I heard your grandfather is an astounding poet," Dawn started up a conversation also using this time to get know someone she only knew based on information.

Flannery smirked boastfully, "That's the same Mr. Moore! Professor Oak's getting competition when it comes to Pokemon poetry."

"Nah, not many people can best Professor Oak." Max disagreed, adjusting his glasses before sipping his drink. "I have to agree with Max." Ash added in cockily. They averted their eyes when Flannery shot them both a look.

"I assume he's watching the Gym in your stead?" May inquired, looking at the red-haired lass after finishing off her drink.

"I also assume you've become more powerful than he has, right?" Aaron added in his question, lightly sipping his drink and eyeing the Fire-type specialist from the corner of his eyes.

"Yes and definitely yes." Flannery answered both questions with great pride, causing those two to chuckle a little. She then noticed Winter and Ian being awfully quiet. The Shiro Town resident was idly spinning her straw inside her drink, which was almost gone, and the Lavender Town resident was lying back with his drink beside him virtually untouched. "Winter? Ian? You two haven't said anything recently." She pointed out.

Winter shyly looked at Flannery, "O-Oh! I'm sorry, Flannery….I just don't have anything interesting to contribute. I-I'm sorry." She apologized timidly.

"I'm just bored is all." Ian replied honestly, not looking at her and yawning to show his ennui.

"Go do some training," Aaron recommended, finishing off the rest of his drink, "In fact, I'm about to do some right now."

An idea suddenly popped into Flannery's head, "That won't be necessary." Everyone, minus Ian, looked curiously at Flannery as she stood up. "I'm pretty bored myself, so I'm in the mood for a battle." She said challengingly.

Ash immediately jumped at the opportunity, "If that's the case, I'll do it!"

A sweat-dropped gracing the back of his head, Aaron piped in from the background, "Uh, hel-lo! I'm the one who brought up the training idea!"

Flannery giggled, "Sorry, Ash and Aaron, you two aren't the training partners I had in mind." Aaron had a look of confusion on his face while Ash had a look of disappointment.

"Then who, Flannery?" Max inquired. He thought it was probably either Dawn, Winter, or May. More than likely Winter.

The "One with a passion that burns" gazed over at the bored and nonchalant Ian and said, "Hey, Ian? Since you're bored and all, battle me." Aaron, Ash, and Max instantly did an anime fall as Winter, May, and Dawn all looked at Ian.

Ian slowly looked at the Fire-type enthusiast and thought about it, but her challenging smirk added a sense of belittlement in relation to him. Still, his boredom was to the point he might not perform as well as he could. "C'mon. I saw your performance on TV at Aparra Village," she crooned, "Show me what you got."

"…Hmph. Fine then." Ian conceded, standing up from his languid position.

"That's the ticket!" Flannery said in an overjoyed tone, "Three-on-three fine with you?"

"Yeah." Ian replied and then asked, "Someone be ref."

"Oh! Oh! I'll do it!" Max volunteered enthusiastically, getting up and instantly taking the referee's stand on the battlefield.

"Well, Maximillian sure is excitable…" Winter commented with a sheepish smile.

"I guess being with Dad is starting to rub off on him." May mused.

"He's come a long way since we traveled together, that's for sure." Ash remarked in a proud and impressed tone as he sat back down, "To think, he didn't have any Pokemon when I came to Hoenn. Now, he's got like three good ones."

"Well, back to the matter at hand," Aaron's statement made sure everyone was now aware of what was about to happen, "Let's watch what I think may be an interesting Pokemon Battle."

Max cleared his throat before beginning the standard, pre-battle mantra, "The battle between Flannery Moore of Lavaridge City and Ian Darusu of Lavender Town is about to begin! It is a three-on-three Single Battle; if one trainer is able to render all three Pokemon of the other trainer unable to battle, he or she will be the winner."

"Right." Ian and Flannery replied, one more passionately and the other more dully.

"Now, bring out your first Pokemon!"

"Camerupt, let's go!" Flannery threw out her already-chosen Pokeball and summoned the Eruption Pokemon onto the field. "Spiritomb, make quick work of this." Ian did the same and out came the Forbidden Pokemon.

Pikachu cowered on Ash's shoulder a little, recalling when they first met Ian and he had to battle that same Spiritomb. The Ghost/Dark-type cleanly swept himself, Gliscor, and Floatzel and proved itself to be greatly powerful. "Pip piplup? (What's the matter, Pikachu? Scared?)" Piplup teased the Electric-type mouse, noticing his uneasiness. Pikachu shot Piplup a dirty look, "Pikachu. (Please be quiet.)"

"Begin!"

"Alright, let's burn 'em out quickly, Camerupt!" Flannery said and the commanded passionately, "Use Will-o-Wisp!" Camerupt opened its mouth and summoned several ghostly wisps of fire and sent them toward Spiritomb with the intention of burning it.

"No thank you," Ian rebutted and then commanded, "Spiritomb, get rid of it with Icy Wind!" The Forbidden Pokemon smirked treacherously as cooled down the air around it before brewing wind with light blue sparkles and snow in it. When the Will-o-Wisp came in contact with the Icy Wind, it was effaced before it even touched Spiritomb. "Great work! Now then, Water Pulse!"

"Tooomb!" Spiritomb created a blue sphere and launched it as waves rushed around it.

"Trying to put out my flame, huh?" Flannery smirked, "Not happening, Ian! Camerupt, block it with Rock Slide!"

"Ruuupt!" The Fire/Ground-type Pokemon roared with effort as its eyes glowed brown. This spontaneously produced a fall of boulders in front of that created a wall that blocked Water Pulse rather easily. "Now, get close and use Iron Head!" Flannery commanded.

"Camerupt! (Here I come!)" The Eruption Pokemon roared as it charged forth after Rock Slide dissolved away. As it did, a silver aura—starting from its cranium—covered its whole body, making it seem silver and white.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ian objected, "Stop it with Rock Tomb!" Spiritomb gathered energy above it until a glowing, whitish rock was formed. Then, it telekinetically tossed the rock which burst into several smaller rocks of the same color and sheen.

"That won't stop us!" Flannery protested with a smirk, "Show him, Camerupt!" The Eruption Pokemon continued forth dauntlessly. When the rocks threatened to surround and entrap, it showed its power by running straight through them with Iron Head, destroying each and every rock that tried to do its job or cause damage.

Naturally, both Ian and Spiritomb were surprised especially when Camerupt successfully connected its Iron Head against the Forbidden Pokemon. "Dang, nice hit!" Ash commented in shock. "Man…Flannery definitely got some power under her belt." Dawn stated with May being equally awed.

Spiritomb staggered backwards but shook itself so that the lingering dizziness would be alleviated. "How do you like that, Ian?" Flannery taunted, crossing her arms. Ian chuckled belittlingly, "You've only scored one hit and think you're on top. Will-O-Wisp!"

Spiritomb summoned several ghostly wisps of fire around it and flung them toward Camerupt. Flannery frowned as she thought, _"What the heck? Will-O-Wisp burns the foe on contact, and Fire-types are immune to the move."_ Sensing its trainer's confusion, Camerupt decided to sit still.

Seeing that they fell for it, Ian smirked, _"Got 'em."_ "Use Water Pulse on the Will-O-Wisp!"

"Spiritomb! (There isn't anything like an open target!)" The Forbidden Pokemon laughed cynically as it unleashed Water Pulse toward the Will-O-Wisp. When water and fire made contact, steam was given birth and surrounded a vexed Camerupt. "Ah! No way!" Flannery gasped in shock.

"Now, that was a well-played move on Ian's part." Aaron commented, "I just don't get why battlers don't immediately think their opponent have something planned when something like that happens."

"It's how things work naturally for human battlers…" Winter spoke up softly, "Only the greatest are able to recognize and use those inclinations against their opponents…"

"What you see is what you get," Ian chuckled evilly, "Too bad for your Camerupt, it can't see anything! Water Pulse!"

Camerupt looked around the thick steam uneasily. It felt as if it was cut off from the rest of the world. Its restlessness was only heightened by the knowledge it was battling against a foe like Spiritomb. Too bad, in the midst of its apprehension, it was unable to notice two glowing green eyes behind it and a growing blue ball of light accompanying it. "Tomb. (Boo.)"

"CAMER— (OH SH—)"

The steam immediately dispersed as a massive amount of water exploded from within it. "Camerupt!" Flannery shouted in concern. "The End." Ian whispered raspingly, his smirk still alive and well.

"Camerupt is unable to battle! Spiritomb is the winner!" Max officiated, raising his left hand to pantomime a referee's flag.

"One hit…" Dawn gaped at the power of Ian's Spiritomb. She was there that same Forbidden Pokemon cleanly swept Ash's three Pokemon before the Sunyshore City Contest. Pikachu cowered once again, recalling how Floatzel was annihilated in a not too dissimilar way.

"One hit is all my Spiritomb needs when it gets a target." Ian boasted as Spiritomb floated back to its original position before the start of the battle, "As a type specialist, I should be one of the last people to say this…but with Water Pulse equipped, I'd say your Fire-types are about to get washed up."

"Uh-huh. Keep talking." Flannery narrowed her eyes contemptuously as she recalled her Camerupt, "You did great, Camerupt. Rest easy." Ian and Spiritomb could only smirk smugly. They loved it, at whatever degree, when their opponents got flustered or annoyed at the truth. Flannery brought out another Pokeball, "Alright, Blaziken, let's burn their confidence up!" She threw it out and released the Fire/Fighting-type Pokemon.

"A _Blaziken_?" Aaron said in disbelief. Even if the time between his last meeting with Flannery and now was lengthy, he was still astonished at her growth. She was packing some primo Fire power. Ash was equally impressed and awed, "Never thought I'd say that in her arsenal."

"Ha! That Blaziken's gonna win!" May gushed. Her words were biased because of the fact that she too owned a Blaziken. Winter replied critically, "I don't know, May…You saw what Spiritomb did to Camerupt…" The Petalburg City resident countered factually, "Camerupt was both Fire and Ground. It was quadruply weak to Water."

"Begin!"

"Your honor, Moore." Ian stated in a somewhat mocking tone. Flannery gritted her teeth in frustration; that smirk of his was starting to get on his nerves. But, of course, he had reason to be confident after dispatching her Camerupt so easily. Well, now it was her turn. "You're such a cavalier, Mr. Darusu. Blaziken, Flamethrower!"

"Bla-zi-KEN!" The Blaze Pokemon released a massive jet of hot flames from its mouth toward the Ghost/Dark-type.

"Spiritomb, extinguish those flames with Water Pulse!" Ian commanded. Spiritomb laughed menacingly as it summoned another blue ball and launched it. Powerful waves accompanied the blue orb. Water Pulse and Flamethrower collided centerfield, and nothing but steam was the result. "Heh heh heh…" Ian chuckled alacritously, ready to use the same tactic again. "Spiritomb... (You've just entered your grave…)" The Ghost/Dark-type proclaimed forebodingly as it disappeared in the steam.

"Blaziken. (How lovely.)" Blaziken retorted sarcastically with a roll of its eyes. "Not this time!" Flannery objected and then enjoined, "Blaziken, use Double Team and then Flamethrower!" Within the steam, the Blaze Pokemon multiplied itself. Afterward, all of them released Flamethrowers. The white steam was suddenly turned red-hot as fire and heat coursed through the battlefield.

Soon enough, Spiritomb came bursting out the top of the fiery mist. "TOOOOOMB!" The Forbidden Pokemon screamed in agony, covered in flames. Ian's once-cocky demeanor changed to a look of shock, "Spiritomb!" He exclaimed. By that time, the fiery mist died away completely, revealing just one Blaziken, as the flaming Spiritomb descended.

"Now Blaze Kick!" Flannery ordered triumphantly. "Blaze? (Now, what was that about entering my grave?)" Blaziken taunted as it raised its right leg, flames bursting from it a second later, and then slammed it upon Spiritomb when it had fallen low enough. The impact produced dust and dismissed the flames. Everyone else, even Ian a little, cringed from the impact.

Blaziken jumped back to its original position near Flannery, but to its surprise, Spiritomb was levitating back into the air. Apparently, the last spark of battling life had yet to be eliminated. "Hm. So it continues." Flannery said concisely and then commanded, "Approach Spiritomb!" Adopting a track runner's stance, the Fire/Fighting-type Pokemon sprinted for the daze Forbidden Pokemon.

"Check out the speed!" Ash remarked in an astonished tone. Him, May, and Dawn shared similar expressions.

"Spiritomb, slow its ass down with Rock Tomb! Follow it up with Icy Wind!" Ian commanded hurriedly. Rushed, Spiritomb once again summoned another large, glowing stone and telekinetically hurled it. The stone burst into several, smaller versions of the large one. Then, the Forbidden Pokemon allowed a spray of cold wind to exit its mouth to accompany the Rock Tomb. The Icy Wind coated the rocks in a layer of spiky ice, making them resemble spore particles.

"Pretty," Flannery remarked casually and then stated, "Too bad I have to destroy it! Blaziken, charge through with Flare Blitz!" The fully evolved pokemon cried out mightily as blue and white flames engulfed its tall body. Not stopping its sprinting, the Flare Blitz-induced Blaziken practically tore through the Icy Wind-Rock Tomb combination with amazing power and great grace. Finally, it connected its Flare Blitz against Spiritomb.

"Spiri…TOOOOOMB!" The Forbidden Pokemon shouted agonizingly as it was violently sent backwards. The only thing that stopped it was the wall behind Ian and, even then, a huge crater formed once its ghostly body met it. Spiritomb shook and contorted in pain until the ghostly portions of its anatomy retracted into its Odd Keystone base, which then clattered against the floor rather pathetically.

"O-Ouch…" Max squeaked underneath his breath. He cleared his throat and raised his right arm, "Spiritomb is unable to battle! Blaziken is the winner!"

"Told you~" May sung melodiously, very much proud that a fellow Blaziken reigned triumphant.

"But, man, the raw power on that Blaziken," Aaron remarked in an impressed tone, "Aside Honchkrow and Gengar, Spiritomb is probably one of Ian's most powerful pokemon. It wasn't even able to land a hit on Blaziken."

Maintaining his humility, Ian recalled his fallen Spiritomb and put away that Pokeball and fished out a new one. He allowed himself to look at his opponents. Blaziken exhaled fire out of his mouth to the side while Flannery was just eyeing him with a smile. He was not able to prevent himself from saying something, "Seems like someone's yet to chill out."

"Weeeeell," Flannery replied coyly, stretching with one eye open which still gazed at him, "I _am_ the 'One with a Fiery Passion That Burns.'"

"Augh, that smugness," Ian said dangerously, pressing the button on his second Pokeball so that it would enlarge, "Allow me to put all that up in smoke! Dusknoir, go!" Tossing out the Pokeball, the Gripper Pokemon materialized onto the battlefield. It was still with arms crossed and eyes closed; evidently, it was meditating prior to being released. Realizing its trainer called him out, Dusknoir's single red eyes opened menacingly and uncrossed its arms. "Noir. (My turn.)"

"Begin!"

"Ian, you go this time." Flannery offered generously.

"Ah, thanks." Ian replied gratefully and then enjoined, "Shadow Ball! Go!" Dusknoir raised its hands and gathered dark energy between them, conjuring up a sphere of black and purple darkness and launching it toward Blaziken.

"Dodge! Then approach Dusknoir and use Blaze Kick!" Flannery countered. The Blaze Pokemon performed a graceful front flip over the Shadow Ball. A single leap followed up as its leg was coated in fervent flames.

"Counter with Fire Punch!" Ian ordered. The pure Ghost-type's right fist spontaneously burst into flames and launched it forth. Both Fire-type moves collided, wild streams of fire spewing from the power struggle. Soon enough, both attacks cancelled each other as Dusknoir and Blaziken backed away.

"Hey, I'm liking this red-hot battle." Flannery stated in an impressed and excited tone. Less dispassionate and less understanding of Flannery's feelings, Ian could only sigh and then make his next command, "Dusknoir, Shadow Ball again!"

"Noir! (Take this!)" Dusknoir exclaimed as it unleashed another quick Shadow Ball for the Blaze Pokemon.

"Knock it back with Blaze Kick!" Flannery enjoined. "Blaze. (I'd rather not.)" Blaziken quipped in reply as it performed a fiery roundhouse kick, sending the Shadow Ball right back to its user. Dusknoir cried out in pain as it felt the damage from its own, redirected attack. "Now close the gap between you two and use Flamethrower!"

"Oh, to hell with that!" Ian objected, "Trick Room!"

Dusknoir's eye glowed red and a large light blue rectangle with light blue transparent walls and ceiling appeared around the battlefield. Then, the light blue glow faded away with the walls and ceiling becoming invisible. In that time frame, Blaziken managed to approach Dusknoir and released Flamethrower. It knew it was the faster pokemon, so this attack had to be a direct hit. To its surprise, when Flamethrower was released, Dusknoir dodged it with unnatural, extreme speed.

"What the-?" Flannery exclaimed. Dusknoirs were supposed to be slow Pokemon, not speed demons.

"Focus Punch." Ian commanded with smirking, cool nonchalance. With that same speed, Dusknoir reappeared in front of Blaziken and delivered a powerful uppercut. The action sent the Blaze Pokemon straight into the ceiling where it harshly rebounded back to the battleground.

"I-I've never seen something like that…" Winter whispered in amazement.

"You mean the Trick Room, right?" Aaron replied, leaning back and crossing his arms, "Trick Room is a dangerous move when used properly. All priority is reversed. Slower Pokemon moved first while faster Pokemon move last. Ian must have planned this the second his Spiritomb fell to Flannery's Blaziken."

"That doesn't surprise me," Dawn said perceptively, "Ian never was the one to let someone walk over him or his Pokemon. This Trick Room strategy of his has to be a form of payback."

Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Blaziken was being absolutely demolished. The confidence and suave it had at the beginning were totally gone, replaced with frustration and ire. Flannery was equally annoyed, but there wasn't much she could while Trick Room was active. "Blaziken, use Double Team!"

Gritting its teeth, Blaziken created several illusionary afterimages of itself, surrounding Dusknoir in a circle. Despite its current advantage, the Gripper Pokemon was bewildered; it did not know which Blaziken was the real one.

"Oh, that's it." Ian snarled, growing tired of that Blaziken, and then commanded, "Dusknoir, create a Shadow Ball but then slam it into the ground with a Fire Punch!" Dusknoir held up one hand, which conjured up the Shadow Ball, and held up the other which was enflamed with bright red and orange fire. The Ghost-type let the Shadow Ball fall to the ground and then slammed its Fire Punch on it. What followed was a large shockwave of ghostly, purple fire that instantly eliminated all the Blaziken and struck the real one.

"B-Blaziken!" Flannery cried out, a little shaken at the meditative and mystical Dusknoir's display of power and aggression. All clones of Blaziken disappeared, retracting back to the fallen original one, who was down for the count.

"Blaziken is unable to battle! Dusknoir wins!"

"It was only a matter of time before Ian and Dusknoir decided to stop toying around and finish Blaziken off." Aaron announced grimly, unfazed by the display.

"Man, it's hard to believe Ian is _just_ a Coordinator," Ash said, "With all that power and skill, he could easily be a Trainer and challenge Gyms and all that."

"Maybe that's why he's easier to handle in Contests." Dawn joked. Ian suddenly shot her a nasty glare, apparently hearing her, and that immediately silenced the blue-haired girl as Piplup scurried behind her to avoid the look. "Piplup! (Don't kill us!)" The Water-type squeaked in fear.

"Onto more pressing matters," Aaron stated sternly, "Flannery is down to her final pokemon. I'm curious to see how she'll overcome adversity."

"Blaziken, you did all right…" Flannery mumbled comfortingly as she recalled the Blaze Pokemon, "You did great." She put away that Pokeball and looked at Ian with a smile, "I won't lie; you're pretty tough, Ian. I'm impressed."

"Doing what I can," Ian responded, surprisingly humbly, "Like my compatriots, I have dreams, and I _will_ accomplish them. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to meet that end."

"What would those dreams be?" Flannery inquired curiously. The others were just as wondering.

"Now's not really the time to discuss those matters," Ian chuckled, "Can we finish our battle first? I'd rather not ruin it."

Flannery giggled as she took out her third and final Pokeball, "I never knew you were so likeable. You barely said anything the last time we met."

"Magnezone. (It's called puberty.)" Magnezone suddenly jested, eliciting snickers from Piplup and Pikachu. Dusknoir refrained from making a sound but, nonetheless, thought the statement was humorous indeed.

"Alright, now we finish this! How about I show you something about Fire-types only I can?" Flannery stated passionately as she threw out the Pokeball. To everyone's amazement, a Volcoise was released into battle. Dusknoir balked a little as Ian's eyes dilated a bit.

"No way!" Ash and Aaron exclaimed at the same time, equally disbelieving.

"…I-Is that her Torkoal?" May questioned uncertainly. She remembered her Torkoal being her trump card against Ash all the way back in Lavaridge City. Now, it had evolved into the very same thing that Sojiro owned, a deadly Fire-type powerhouse.

Dawn was busy checking her Pokedex, "According to the Pokedex, Volcoise is definitely the evolved form of a Torkoal, but only on Ryojima Mountain."

"That's right," Flannery confirmed, "Sojiro told me that Ryojima Mountain possesses something that a few Pokemon love—specific heat, spacious environment, and a lot of coal, soot, and earth. Torkoal is one of those Pokemon. Once it's been exposed to the environments within Ryojima Mountain, and has grown accustomed it, it will evolve into a Volcoise."

After Flannery's explanation, the light blue transparent walls and ceiling of Dusknoir's Trick Room appeared again to show that it was still in effect. "Interesting," Ian remarked, "But enough of the pre-battle banter. Call it, Max!"

"Begin!"

"Dusknoir, let's extirpate Volcoise just as quickly as we did Blaziken!" Ian called out, "Shadow Ball!"

"Noir! (Understood, Master Ian!)" Dusknoir responded obediently as it gathered darkness between its hands, resulting in the formation of another Shadow Ball which was then launched to the Volcanic Pokemon.

"Gyro Ball!" Flannery countered. Volcoise exhaled fire out of its nostril as it said, "Coise. (How cute; a master and his lapdog.)" Quickly tucking its head, legs, and tail into its large, black shell, said shell rotated violently as its rim glowed silver. To everyone's surprise, a blur of red flashed across the battlefield, dodging the Shadow Ball and subsequently ramming into Ian's Dusknoir.

"What the-?" Ian cursed. He couldn't believe it; Trick Room was working against him.

"Flannery's Volcoise is slower than Ian's Dusknoir…" Winter spoke softly as if she knew that was going to happen, "So, Trick Room blesses it with better speed and reaction…"

"Flannery must've had that planned." May proclaimed perceptively.

"Dusknoir! Hurry and use Shadow Punch!" Ian ordered hurriedly.

"Don't make me laugh!" Flannery objected, "Clear Smog!"

Before Dusknoir even had a chance to make a move, Volcoise took a deep breath and released a stream of white smog from its mouth out over the battlefield. The smog surrounded Dusknoir and halted its progress as white electricity crackled on its body, evidently sustaining damage.

"_Damn you, Flannery!"_ Ian shouted in his mind. She was using his own plan against him and making his prized Dusknoir look like a fool. He also hated the fact that Trick Room was going to be around for a bit longer, seeing as the Gripper Pokemon made such quick work of Blaziken prior to the move's activation. "Dusknoir, use Shadow Ball and Fire Punch and blow everything away!"

"Not today!" Flannery cried out, "Volcoise, Overheat!"

Volcoise opened its mouth as its entire body glowed a bright red. Then, it unleashed a powerful orange-yellow fire with an orange flame spiraling around it as smoke erupted from the hole on top of its shell. Overheat tore through the previous Clear Smog and engulfed Dusknoir. "NOOOOOOIR!" The Gripper Pokemon's ghostly voiced wailed in absolute agony. Its screaming ended when a powerful, fiery explosion engulfed its part of the battlefield.

"DUSKNOIR!" Ian shouted in great concern, unfazed at the aftershock of the explosive Overheat or the proximity of the explosion. When all the smoke, dust, and heat subsided, it revealed a scorched Dusknoir lying motionlessly on the ground.

Max coughed a little, using his hand to wave off residual smoke in the air around him, and then declared, "Dusknoir is unable to battle! Volcoise is the winner!"

"Oh…my…word…" Winter remarked breathlessly. The raw power that Volcoise possessed frightened her; she was praying that none of her Ice-types would have to face that shelled menace. In fact, she was so intimidated that she shifted herself so that she was sitting behind May.

"Dusknoir didn't even stand a chance." Dawn stated.

"But, let's not forget something," Aaron reminded everyone, "Ian has one Pokemon left. He can use that deciding factor to overcome even Volcoise's power if he thinks this through."

"Pika Pikachu. (It can't be any worse than what I've already seen.)" The Electric-type mumbled pensively. If he had to fight against Sojiro's Volcoise, who was supposedly stronger and more powerful than Flannery's, it would definitely take some time to recover from the burns and bruises that ensued.

"Return, Dusknoir. Your efforts won't be in vain." Ian consoled his fallen Gripper Pokemon, recalling into back into its Pokeball and putting away. Conveniently afterwards, the light blue transparent ceiling and walls disappeared, signaling that Trick Room was no longer active. "Ugh. _Now_ you disappear…" Ian growled inaudibly, cursing his own luck. He was contemplating who to choose next. Three of his remaining four were out of the question: Froslass, Shedinja, and Weavile. Volcoise would eat them alive. So that left him with…

Banshar. The same Banshar that threatened him and his posse at the base of Ryojima Mountain. This was a gamble, but all newly captured Pokemon had to start someone with their trainer. It was Banshar's turn.

"Ok," Ian took a deep breath as his dark grey showcased renewed resolve, "Banshar, let's go!" The red and white machine popped up and allowed the Banshee Pokemon to materialize onto the battlefield.

"Banshar, huh?" Aaron said contemplatively, "He must be trying to get used to his newly captured Pokemon."

"Man. I still can't get over that he captured it before me." Ash grumbled, causing everyone to look at him. When he noticed the looks he was getting, he replied, "What? You didn't notice me getting out a Pokeball to capture it but Ian beating me to the punch?"

"Trying to fight fire with fire, huh?" Flannery quipped, "I like your style, Ian."

"I wouldn't necessarily say fighting fire with fire," Ian replied, "It's more of something like this…where there is fire, there is smoke, and I got the smoke so long as you got the fire." Flannery looked interested by his idea, and he explained further, "It's just something an old friend of mine and I had going on whenever we partnered up in battles. You should remember him; he was with me and Aaron when we arrived in Lavaridge City."

"Jacob, right?" Flannery guessed, and Ian was surprised she got the answer in one go, "Uh, yeah actually."

"Who?" May, Winter, and Dawn all asked in unison. Ash pointed to Aaron who immediately said, "Talk later!"

"Begin!"

"Let's end this!" Ian exclaimed and then commanded, "Banshar, Shadow Ball!" The Ghost/Fire-type created a sphere of purple and black dark energy and fired it toward the Volcanic Pokemon.

"Volcoise, deflect it with Gyro Ball!" Flannery enjoined. The Fire-the quickly tucked its head, legs, and tail into its shell and rotated rapidly, the Shadow Ball harmlessly bouncing off it.

"Flame Charge!" Ian quickly shouted. Banshar's eyes lit up with great fire as the flame on top of its head allowed wayward wisps to swirl around its whole body. Then, its whole body was encompassed by bright red and yellow flames before jetting itself toward Volcoise. The Volcanic Pokemon had no time to react once it was done using Gyro Ball, and the Flame Charge-induced Banshar rammed itself into it.

"A direct hit!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Not enough though." Aaron compromised. Despite the fact it was indeed a direct hit, Volcoise was standing its ground.

"Now, we got you!" Flannery said excitedly and then commanded, "Clear Smog!" Volcoise nudged Banshar away and opened its mouth, allowing a stream of white smog to spray out. Unable to do anything, Banshar was engulfed in the Poison-type move.

"Sorry, I don't plan on letting you use speed to overcome my Volcoise!" Flannery said, referring to the fact that Flame Charge raised the user's speed but Clear Smog eliminated all stat changes. "Use Flame Charge!"

Volcoise stomped on the ground with its two front legs over and over again, one after the other, until a cloud of dust covered its entire body. Its body then became surrounded in an orb of red and yellow flames, and it rushed forward out of the dust cloud and slammed into the Banshee Pokemon.

"Banshar!" Ian cried out, turning around when she crashed into the wall behind him from the force of the attack. Banshar refrained from wincing or yelping from the impact. Instead, she glared defiantly at Volcoise before removing herself off the wall and floating back onto the battlefield. "It will take more than that to defeat us!" Ian boasted.

"I figured as much," Flannery replied knowingly, "Overheat, go!" Volcoise opened its mouth and unleashed a powerful red-yellow beam of fire with an orange-red flame swirling around it.

"Double Team and Flamethrower!" Ian enjoined in retaliation. Banshar created multiple illusionary afterimages of itself that encircled the Volcanic Pokemon. The Overheat completely missed, meaning Flannery wasted its power that was now more than likely gone after using it twice. Then, all Banshars collectively unleashed a jet of hot flames, engulfing the Fire-type in a merciless inferno.

"Ha! You're trying to burn out a Fire-type?" Flannery taunted, "That's so naïve!"

"Call it what you will," Ian replied, crossing his arms behind his cape, "But I'm not going to take on a brute like Volcoise head-on despite myself." He was going to implement a strategy of attrition, breaking down Volcoise until it was vulnerable for a kill shot. "Switch to Shadow Ball!" Stopping the inferno, all Banshars summoned Shadow Balls and launched them toward the struggling Volcoise.

"Deflect every single one of them with Gyro Ball!" The Lavaridge City Gym Leader commanded. Noticing the brief reprieve following the attack switch, Volcoise quickly performed Gyro Ball, spinning in place. Each and every Shadow Ball exploded upon contact with its spinning shell. Unlike last time, all of them were not deflected and it sustained a bit of damage, but nonetheless survived the assault. "Now let's get rid of them all with Clear Smog!"

Volcoise's head peeked from out its shell and released more white smog, it spreading fast enough so that it engulfed itself and the Banshars. "Hurry!" Ian blurted, "This is our chance! Use Flamethrower!" All copies of the Banshee Pokemon and the original released Flamethrowers. The white smog was suddenly turned red-hot as fire and heat coursed through the battlefield. Volcoise's cries of pain were heard as the flames consumed it.

"N-No way!" Flannery exclaimed with an aghast expression.

"That's—!" Aaron exclaimed.

"That's the same thing Blaziken did to Spiritomb!" Winter finished the brunette's statement.

When the infernal calamity died away, Banshar's Flamethrower trap did its job. Volcoise was broken down, given by the fact it was lying on its stomach and panting laboriously. However, Clear Smog did its job in eliminating the Double Team.

"End it!" Ian declared decisively, "Flame Charge!"

"Match it with your own Flame Charge!" Flannery commanded.

"(Let's make this sudden death quick!)" Banshar roared, eyes brimming with fire as the flame on its head spewed out red-hot streams of fire. It was soon covered in an aura of red and yellow flames. "Coise! (My kind of girl!)" Volcoise replied, stomping its front legs repeatedly until a dust cloud enveloped it. Inside the light brownish cloud of dust, the Volcanic Pokemon was too engulfed in an orb of red and yellow flames.

Both Flame Charge-induced Pokemon shot toward each other and collided centerfield. Streams of fire flared from the power struggle as each Pokemon tried to overpower the other. They were trying to hold out long enough to see which one would falter first, so that it could move in for the kill and win the battle for its trainer. However, their waiting game would never end as the power struggle ultimately resulted in a powerful explosion, smoking billowing across the gym.

Ian quickly brought up his cape to cover his eyes and faces from the smoke, Aaron removed his hat so that it could cover his face adequately, and everyone could only resort to using their hands and arms—except Magnezone who, being inorganic, had no need for such defensive measures. It took a whole minute for the smoke, and the coughing, to subside which allowed Max to make the final call.

"Volcoise is unable to battle! Banshar is the winner, and the victory goes to Ian!"

Volcoise was lying on its stomach, its shell cracked in places, and swirls replacing its eyes as it groaned dizzily. Banshar was hovering above, crossing her arms superiorly. She managed to slay the fiery beast all on her own, no thanks to Dusknoir.

"What an end." Ian remarked elatedly as Banshar approached its master and gave him a high five. "(Can't wait to do the same thing to Wormadam.)" She remarked sadistically. Flannery sighed but allowed a small smile to appear on her face, "You know what, I'm alright. That was such a refreshing battle." She pulled out Volcoise's Pokeball and recalled it, "You did great, Volcoise. Rest up."

"Oh, I see what he did!" Aaron suddenly said, snapping his fingers once he connected all the pieces.

"Care to enlighten us, Aaron?" Winter requested as everyone else looked at the strategist curiously.

Aaron proceeded to explain comprehensively, "Remember when Ian said he wasn't going to take on Volcoise head-on?" Receiving nods as his answer, he continued, "He basically adopted a strategy of attrition, the gradual weakening and wearing away of defenses and energy by persistent attacks, with Banshar tossing Flamethrowers and Shadow Balls all over the place. He was breaking down Volcoise because he knew Banshar was too weak to handle up front. Forcing Flannery and Volcoise into that Flame Charge clash only increased his chances of success by wearing out Volcoise even more by having it exert more of its expended energy."

"Aaron, I don't know about you, but I think I just figured out how to handle Sojiro's Volcoise." Ash said, becoming even more confident than ever. Pikachu was visibly grateful, for obvious reasons.

"Definitely." Aaron agreed.

Meanwhile, Ian and Flannery walked up to each other and shook hands, displaying great sportsmanlike conduct, as Banshar hovered behind her master. "Not bad there, tall, dark, and handsome." The redheaded Gym Leader complimented with a wink, "I'll need to hit you up for a rematch sometime in the future."

"Sounds good to me," Ian said with a slight shrug of his shoulders, "I actually enjoyed this battle. I don't even remember being bored." He offered a grin, "But I suppose you tend to liven an atmosphere with your personality." Despite herself, Flannery could not hold back the blush on her face from the compliment.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were flirting with each other." Dawn commented bluntly.

"Aww, that's so sweet." May said, enamored by the subtle display. Ash and Max, who had just came over, fake-gagged disgustedly while Aaron was tempted to yell 'get a room,' but his better nature prevented him.

"…Piii…Pikachu? (….So…anyone want to see how Misty, Brock, and Sojiro are doing?)" Pikachu said, trying to break the awkward silence. He got no response even from fellow Pokemon Magnezone and Piplup. "Pikachu. (Don't I feel loved.)"

* * *

Darmanitan, Charizard, Typhlosion, Magmortar, Houndoom, and Infernape were all finally knocked out. These six Fire-types were definitely top-tier despite Sojiro's apparent ineptness. The rocky walls and floor of the cavern were scorched and marred by the massive firepower they all possessed. In light of their type advantage and resistance to Fire, Misty's and Brock's Pokemon were not spared. They too had their fair share of burns and injuries. Evidently, they were a handful in taming.

"I think…that finally did it." Sojiro announced, gazing at his fallen Fire-types in wonderment.

"It should," Brock said, "It's like you said to them before they passed out: 'something like this won't happen again if you listen to me.' I doubt, once their rested and healed, they'll be disobedient again."

"After all that, I'm hoping they aren't…" Misty sighed exhaustedly, recalling all of her Water-type Pokemon. Brock followed suit in returning his Rock-type Pokemon.

Sojiro recalled his fallen Fire-types and looked down thoughtfully. He was wondering could he finally start becoming the Gym Leader the Tenla League thought he could, that could he finally match Flannery or even surpass the greatly experienced Blaine of Kanto. Well, only one way to find out.

"Brock, Misty," the red and yellow-haired male spoke, "Tell Ash, Aaron, and Winter to decide which one of them will battle me. As soon as I get my Pokemon healed up, I can battle one of them before the day ends."


End file.
